


from pink perfection to seduce scarlett

by paintingsonherskin



Category: Riverdale - Fandom, bughead - Fandom
Genre: Dark Betty Cooper, Developing Friendships, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Southside Serpent Jughead Jones, eventual angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-01-30 03:18:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12645072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintingsonherskin/pseuds/paintingsonherskin
Summary: Betty is living in her sister Polly's shadow, darkness clouding her vision, afraid to show her true colors to anyone. With a little push from a new student named Veronica Lodge, Betty joins the vixens and gains the confidence she has always wanted. Her bright smile and confidence get noticed by Southside Serpent Jughead Jones in a diner at Pop's, and Betty for the first time in her life feels something other than the darkness that's been following her around.Of course, there will be some obstacles along the way, one by the name of Cheryl Blossom, and the other may be a gang. But Betty wants change, and she's finally ready to go for it.*This is my first fanfic ever. Please comment, kudos, and give any advice you can.





	1. Riverdale's Sweetheart

Betty sat on the edge of her bed, chewing the cap of her pen as she looked down at her math book. Her hair in her tight and perfect ponytail as usual, trying to solve the equation in front of her. It was Friday night, and while most of her class had gone to Pop’s after the homecoming game, Betty went home despite Polly begging her to come out with her and Jason. Not wanting to be a third wheel, Betty after some serious begging had finally convinced Polly to let her go home. Betty had only gone to the game to support Polly, and Archie, who was starting on the Varsity team even though he was only a sophomore. She sat next to Kevin, rolling her eyes at Kevin’s sexual remarks about almost every single football player. 

Watching her sister smile and dance alongside Cheryl Blossom, captain of the squad, Betty couldn’t help but be jealous of Polly. She was a River Vixen with the captain of the football team on her arm, and her sparkling personality meant everyone adored her. It’s not that people didn’t also adore Betty. She was every bit as beautiful and kind as her sister Polly, just less outgoing. Betty wanted nothing more than to be a vixen, but just the thought of trying out alone and dancing in front of Cheryl to be judged, made her want to run away. So instead, Betty spent her time writing for the Blue and Gold, tutoring kids after school, and retreating quietly to her room where she studied in order to maintain her perfect GPA.

For a long time, Betty didn’t mind that this was her life. She didn’t mind that Kevin and Archie were basically her only real friends, both of whom also had begged her to come out that night. She didn’t mind being introduced as “Polly Cooper’s little sister” instead of by her own name. Alice Cooper also didn’t mind, very content to have a daughter so focused and easy to look after, unlike Polly. 

Out of nowhere, things changed. Betty slowly started to resent her bright, floral room, her light blue sweaters, and “pink perfection” lipstick. She began to resent everyone asking her for favors, to decorate this school dance, to help with this bake sale, to tutor so and so in Geometry. Every time her mother brought up school and how well she needed to perform, or saw Jason and Polly, arms linked in the hallway, it began to feel like too much. Archie was too busy to notice. He was always either at practice, or working with Josie and the Pussycats on song lyrics. Kevin had recently took up “night jogging”, and was always more than willing to share in great detail his late night activities at lunch to also notice. Polly was so head over heels for Jason, she didn’t notice either. 

When it got to be too much, when Betty could feel her throat closing like two dark hands were squeezing on her neck, and her pink cheeks turned bright red, she would dig her nails into her palms, almost always drawing blood. It would take a second, but then she would exhale, and feel better. All the pressure, anger, desperation, and fear that had been building up would somehow be released as soon as she felt blood dripping down her hand. She couldn’t explain it, nor did she want to, and she was certain no one would ask anyway. Because as much as people wanted help from Betty Cooper, no one seemed to want to get to know Betty Cooper, the real Betty Cooper, and that made Betty feel like she was choking on loneliness. 

So here Betty Cooper was, doing homework on a Friday night, desperate for a change. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to be different. She wished it was easy for her to open up to people, to talk to someone, to anyone. But, she felt stuck. She was “perfect” Betty Cooper, and she was scared that if someone saw the darkness inside her, her growing hate and frustration, she would be “crazy” Betty Cooper. So, instead of sharing milkshakes at Pop’s, she would live vicariously through Polly, Kevin, and Archie, and spend her Friday nights alone. 

By Monday morning, Betty had somewhat shrugged off her lonely and pitiful Friday night, ready to face her fellow students with a bright smile, signature ponytail, and collared pink sweater. It didn’t matter that her palms now had crescent scars. It was working. It was helping her keep up her “perfect” appearance, and Betty decided that it was worth it. Just as Betty was about to shut her locker, she saw Principal Weatherbee walk out of his office with a raven haired girl to his side. She was also in a collared sweater, but hers was a dark plum color with a string of pearls around her neck. She also wore a black pencil skirt and classic black pumps. Her lips were painted a dark berry color and her eyebrows were perfectly arched, her eyeliner in a sharp, pointed wing. Betty looked down at her light blue jeans, white converse, and pink sweater, immediately feeling inadequate as Weatherbee and the Blair Waldorf look alike approached her. 

Betty of course, plastered on her brightest smile before speaking. “Principal Weatherbee”, Betty started, “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m just fine, Betty, thank you for asking”, he stated. “Betty, this is a new student at Riverdale High, Veronica Lodge. She just moved here from New York and I was hoping that you could show her around?”

Veronica put her hand out for Betty to shake as she said “It’s so nice to meet you, Betty! I love your sweater!”

Betty was not expecting Veronica to be so pleasant. A New Yorker in heels and pearls, Betty expected Veronica to be, well, more of a Cheryl Blossom. Betty’s fake smile turned into a genuine one as she told Veronica, “Thank you! I would be more than happy to show you around”.

Principal Weatherbee thanked Betty, and turned to leave the girls to their task. 

Veronica looped her arm with Betty’s, surprising Betty, but it did not make her uncomfortable. Betty couldn’t help but admire Veronica’s boldness and confidence, secretly wishing she had those same traits. “So”, Veronica began, “Miss Betty Cooper, give me the one and only look into the scandalous lives of Riverdale’s elite”. 

Betty sighed, “I’m sorry Veronica, but I can’t help you there. I’m pretty average”.  
Veronica scoffed, “I don’t believe that for a second, look at you! You’re a blonde bombshell and I’m sure you have boys lining up around the block for you”.  
Betty shrugged, “Believe it. The only lines forming for me are the number of committees begging me to take over as president”. 

Veronica stopped them short. “That ends here, right now. I need a friend, and you clearly need someone to teach you how to let loose,” Veronica said, eyeing Betty’s perfect, uptight ponytail. 

Betty knew Veronica meant well, but she was also terrified of what might happen if she did let loose, if she finally gave in and dropped her composure, exposing herself for all to see. As much as Betty wanted change, her fear always won. `

Betty began, “I appreciate it Veronica, I really do, but you’ve known me for thirty seconds? I think Cheryl Blossom is the girl for you. She’s captain of the River Vixens, her family is the wealthiest in town, and her brother Jason is captain of the football team. You want scandals and elite? Cheryl is your girl”. 

Betty is cut off by the bell before Veronica gets a chance to speak. “Your first class is right here” Betty says, stopping in front of the door. “It was nice to meet you, I’m sure I’ll see you around”. 

Betty quickly turns around and runs to class, not wanting to be late. She knew it was too good to be true. Girls like Veronica Lodge are not friends with girls like her. 

Veronica was left in the hallway, staring after her. Veronica doesn’t want to be friends with Cheryl knowing full well just by Betty’s description that back in New York she was a Cheryl. She was looking for change, wanting to be someone new. Veronica sets her sights on befriending Betty. Sick of all the lies and betrayal and scandals within her very own family, she yearns for something genuine. And while her family may be falling apart right now, she’s still a Lodge, and Lodge’s are nothing if not persistent. She won’t stop until her and Betty are best friends. 

Veronica walks into the cafeteria during lunch. A red haired girl with locks down to her hips approaches Veronica with a smile on her matching red lips and introduces herself as Cheryl Blossom. “Veronica Lodge” Cheryl says, “need a place to sit?”

Veronica looks around the room and sees Betty sitting with a redheaded boy in a varsity jacket and a brown haired boy in a blue sweater. “Thank you”, Veronica says but I was actually about to sit with Betty”

Veronica steps to the right to go around Cheryl when Cheryl blocks her path. “You don’t wanna do that”, Cheryl says. “I know Betty gave you your tour, and she’s Riverdale’s sweetheart, but she isn’t exactly the most… fun. And given your Instagram photos, I know for a fact that you and I will be great friends! I’ll even give you a spot on the vixens, a spot girls would kiiiilll for”. 

Veronica just looks at Cheryl, a look of disgust and Cheryl immediately changes her tone. “Listen here you little rich bitch. I know about everything your dad did, and so does the entire school. With that floating around, you do not want to be caught hanging out with a loser like Betty Cooper. Here in Riverdale, I’m in charge. Trust me when I say you would much rather have me as a friend than an enemy. So, why don’t you come sit with me and the Vixens?”

Veronica knew this game. She had given this speech to countless other girls. She wasn’t afraid of Cheryl, and she certainly did not want to fall back into her old habits. With a smile on her face and her voice as sweet as honey, Veronica stepped and closer and said, “How about never, Cheryl? Is never good for you?” 

Cheryl moved out of her way. She would remember Veronica’s words. If she wanted to be an outcast, fine. Cheryl would make sure she stayed that way.

Veronica approached Betty’s table as Betty was mid laugh at one of Kevin’s signature comments. She immediately stopped when she saw Veronica. “Can I sit?” Veronica asked.

“Of course you can!” Archie exclaimed, before Betty had the chance to speak. Veronica beamed at his kindness. “Archie Andrews” he says to Veronica, “and this is Kevin Keller”. 

“Your shoes are incredible!” Kevin states, before offering Veronica his hand to shake. Betty just keeps eating her lunch, never meeting Veronica’s eyes. The last thing she wants is for this obviously popular girl to pity her and try to give her a makeover.

“Thank you!” Veronica says. “I can’t believe how friendly everyone in Riverdale is. Well, mostly everyone”.

“So you’ve met Riverdale’s resident bitch then?” says Archie, and Betty can’t help but smirk at that. “Cheryl Blossom”, Archie clarifies.

“Unfortunately, yes” Veronica sighs. “Is she always like that?”

“Always” Betty, Kevin, and Archie say in unison, causing laughter to erupt from all four of them. 

Veronica begins to tell the three friends all about herself, her dad’s rocky past with his company, how he ended up in jail, and how she was forced to move to Riverdale. Archie steps in and tries to ease her worries, always playing someone’s knight in shining armor. That’s just who he was. Kevin was hanging on to every word Veronica said, gasping at every detail of Veronica’s previously lavish life. 

Betty finally looks at Veronica, and notices that her eyes are sad whenever she mentions her father. Betty gives her a small smile. Maybe Veronica actually is more than a stuck up girl with daddy’s credit card, Betty thinks. At that moment, Betty decides to give her a chance, not knowing that by the end of the week, they would become B and V, and lead Betty to some circumstances that would change her life forever. 

That Thursday, Veronica approaches their lunch table with a smile wider than usual.  
“Oh God” Betty says, “what is it?”

“I heard through the grape vine….” Veronica pauses, “that Cheryl Blossom fired two of her Vixens for their annoying personalities and is holding try outs tomorrow afternoon!” 

“This matters to me how…?” asks Betty.

“We should try out!” Veronica practically screams.

“Oh, no no no no” Betty repeats, “Not happening. Polly’s thing is the vixens, and also, didn’t we agree we hate Cheryl Blossom?”. 

“We did” says Veronica, “but come on Betty! I know I’m trying to change my ways but I think this will be a good thing, and a good change for you. Don’t you want to, I don’t know, let that ponytail down a bit?”. 

Betty’s wheels in her mind won’t stop spinning. She was petrified at the thought of trying out alone, but now she had Veronica begging her to try out with her. Betty’s fear was slowly starting to subside as she had never had a friend to help her face her fear, but now she did.  
Veronica could see Betty slowly starting to give in. Kevin of course, was all for it. 

“For God’s sakes Betty, wouldn’t you rather be a vixen than just the sister of one?” Kevin said. 

Betty sighed. Of course she would love to be a vixen, but would her mother approve? Probably not. Not to mention, this overlooming cloud of darkness that seemed to be following Betty around these days. Betty looked down at her palms. Maybe with some physical activity the darkness could be kept at bay. She could hear Reese Witherspoon in her head stating one of her iconic lines from Legally Blonde “endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don’t shoot their husbands”. 

Channeling some Elle Woods vibes, Betty finally looked up and told Veronica “Okay, let’s do it”.

“YES” Veronica squealed. We’ll work on our moves tonight, and I promise you that by this time tomorrow, you and I will be vixens”. 

Betty was almost certain that she would not be a vixen, but she couldn’t help the little bit of hope bubbling inside of her. She had taken a step towards change, and that was both liberating and terrifying. 

The next day

Veronica looked over at Betty. She could tell she was nervous by the way her hands were clenched into fists, knuckles turning white. They had been up all night going over their routine. Veronica wanted it to be the perfect combination of sexy and sweet, and Betty just wanted to be on the squad. Betty was quietly practicing the moves to herself, wanting to hit every mark perfectly. Veronica walked over to Betty and squeezed her shoulder. 

“You got this, Betty. We got this. Now, let’s go show Cheryl Blossom she isn’t the only queen in this town”

Betty and Veronica killed it. Betty knew it. She saw Cheryl staring at them, mouth open, not believing that innocent Betty Cooper could move her hips like that. Betty felt pretty for the first time when the song ended, and all the vixens cheered for her and Veronica. Polly came over and hugged her little sister, beyond proud of Betty for putting herself out there for once. 

Much to Cheryl’s disdain, she had no choice but to put them on the squad. The entire team had voted for them. But in the end, Cheryl didn’t mind. She knew she could have fun with them on the squad when one simple word came in to her mind: hazing. Cheryl handed the girls their new uniforms with a sly grin and said to Betty and Veronica, “You want to play with fire? Prepare to get burned”. Betty and Veronica shrugged her off, to elated to be on team to worry about Cheryl Blossom. They would deal with her later. 

Betty couldn’t believe it. She stared at herself in the mirror as Veronica zipped up her uniform. She had tears in her eyes when she turned around and said to Veronica, “Thank you. I owe you one”.

“No need to thank me, Betty. We’re friends”. 

“Still, thank you. You’ve helped me more than you know, V”. 

Veronica smiled, “Anytime, B”

And that was the beginning of B and V, forever a team. 

Polly came rushing in at that very moment, jumping up and down with excitement to have her little sister and her on the same squad. 

“Come on”, Polly said, “let’s go to Pop’s and show those boys what they’ve been missing all their lives,” giving Betty a wink. 

For the first time, Betty said yes. For once, there was no darkness. There was pure happiness. 

She bounded up the steps to Pop’s diner, Veronica and Polly in tow. She was beaming, glowing, and it showed. She walked in, still smiling, looking around Pop’s for an empty booth when she landed on a pair of bright blue eyes staring at her. His stare, took her breath away. The eyes belonged to a tall boy, with dark hair, one curl sticking out underneath a crown shaped beanie, with a smirk on his face. He was wearing a leather jacket, and Betty quickly noticed that he was surrounded by 3 other boys also wearing leather jackets.  
Betty may not have gotten out a lot, but she knew enough about Riverdale to know that she had just locked eyes with a Serpent, and he wasn’t looking away. Betty felt frozen, and suddenly nervous to look, say, or do something stupid. 

Veronica snapped her fingers in front of Betty’s face, waking Betty up from her trance. “Earth to Betty” Veronica said, “Polly found Jason, he saved us a booth”. 

“Oh right” Betty said turning to walk away. She knew that turning around would make her look desperate, but she didn’t care. She did it anyway, and was both surprised and excited to find the blue eyed Serpent still staring at her. He gave her a wink, and Betty just about fainted. She knew he could see her cheeks turning bright red, and Betty turned around and sat down in the booth before she could embarrass herself further.

Betty could still feel his eyes on her, and she didn’t mind. Looking into those baby blue eyes, Betty felt something she had never felt before. Her entire body was on fire, and she could only come up with one word to describe how she felt when he looked at her: alive.


	2. Southside's Favorite Rebel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead Jones was enjoying a Friday night at Pop's with the Serpents when a beautiful blonde caught his eye, making his ex Toni Topaz jealous. 
> 
> This chapter was a little shorter than the last, but I'm hoping Chapter 3 will be up soon! Please keep commenting and leaving kudos, it is incredibly encouraging and means a lot!

Jughead had a burger on his plate, which was all it took to make him happy. Despite all the rumors about him on the Southside, he liked to think he was a simple man. Him, Fangs Fogarty, Sweet Pea, and Joaquin DeSantos were at their usual Friday night spot, Pop’s. 

Jughead lived for these moments. Being in a gang wasn’t a walk in the park and like most kids on the Southside, Jughead had grown up fast. His mother ran off with his sister when their dad started drinking, leaving him behind to help his dad with Serpent business, at the age of 13. Jughead was a Serpent by blood, the prince of the Southside, and his father was the king. 

But every Friday night, they were just teenage boys eating unhealthy amounts of burgers and fries, talking about girls and making jokes at each other’s expense. It was the only time Jughead truly felt carefree, far away from the drugs, violence, and poverty that was the heart of the Southside. Friday nights, it was just him and his boys. 

Jughead had his head down, about to grab his burger for another bite but when he looked up, he caught sight of a leggy blonde cheerleader with the most dazzling smile he had ever seen. She was looking around the room when her eyes suddenly locked on his, and he saw that they were the brightest green he had ever seen. The kind of green you see after the long months of winter, when spring has finally returned and everything is in bloom. 

Her hair was in a ponytail, not a strand out of place. Her lips were a light pink, and when she realized Jughead was looking at her, her smile dropped and her mouth closed, but she didn’t look away like most people would have. Jughead was officially intrigued, and he wasn’t about to be the one to look away first. Serpents never back down. So, he continued to stare, laughing to himself when he saw a brunette cheerleader snapping to get her attention. 

Jughead saw a look of realization cross her face, and she turned to walk away, but Jughead was still hooked. She was hands down, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he felt lucky to just have held her gaze for even a second, even if it ended with her walking away.

But then she turned around, and Jughead wondered if she was feeling what he felt too. Being raised on the Southside did have some perks. Jughead learned early on how to command the attention in a room. With a whole gang to back him up if need be, Jughead grew up with confidence, and was maybe a little cocky when it came to girls. He gave her a wink, and he saw her gasp and her pink cheeks turn a bright red. Jughead thought it was adorable, and he flashed her his signature boyish smile. He watched her walk back to a booth and sit next to the brunette from earlier, along with another blonde and that Blossom kid. He continued to stare, but she didn’t turn around again. 

“Whatcha lookin at, Jones?”, Jughead heard Joaquin say, finally breaking Jughead from the blonde girl’s spell. 

Jughead tried to play it off, “Oh, nothing. Just that stupid Blossom kid who keeps coming around to buy the…stuff”. 

But Joaquin knew Jughead better than anyone, and he knew exactly what caught Jughead’s attention. Jughead secretly cursed Joaquin, knowing the consequences of his words. 

Right on cue, Fangs and Sweet Pea turned around to see where Jughead was looking immediately started making shocked noises, “well, well, well” said Sweet Pea, “is Jughead Jones finally ready to get back on the horse?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Jughead quickly said, praying they would drop it.

“Like hell you don’t”, said Fangs, “I haven’t seen you drool that much since the Taste of Riverdale when you discovered deep fried twinkies”. 

“At least I don’t wake up covered in my own drool every morning” Jughead said to Fangs, causing Joaquin and Sweet Pea to yell “OHHH” and laugh and begin the second round of jokes. 

Jughead sighed in relief, and rolled his eyes at his goofy friends, grateful to have all eyes off him. He took a sneak peek back at the blonde, disappointed she still wasn’t looking back at him, completely unaware that while he was focused on the blonde, a certain pink haired Serpent was sitting in the booth next to him, following his gaze after eavesdropping on the boys’ conversation. 

“She’s out of your league, Jones” the pink haired girl stated, staring daggers at Jughead as she walked over to their booth, stealing one of Jugdhead’s fries and putting it into her mouth. 

“Oh knock it off, Topaz”, said Joaquin. “You’re just salty because Jones here finally realized he was too good for you”. 

It was no secret, Toni Topaz had an unhealthy obsession with Jughead Jones. The entire Southside knew it. Jughead and Toni had tried to make it work, but Jughead’s heart was never in it. Toni wouldn’t let it go. 

“Come on, Jones”, Toni said, dropping down to his eye level. “That girl is clearly sugar, spice, and everything nice. She could never handle your wild ways”. 

“You don’t know me, Toni. You never did. That was our problem”, was all Jughead said. 

“I know enough”, Toni said, her tone growing colder, “and I know that legally blonde over there would never settle for a damaged, Southside kid with a snake on his back”. 

Toni grabbed her Serpent jacket and walked out of Pop’s. Jughead knew her words were fueled by jealousy, but he’d be lying to himself if he said they didn’t cause a little doubt to creep into his mind. He chose to look at the blonde again, her head was turned to the brunette, who clearly said something funny as he could see the blonde’s shoulders shaking with laughter, and that damn, dazzling smile creeping on her lips again. That smile made Jughead forget Toni’s words, and he knew, without a doubt, he had to talk to this girl. 

Just as Jughead was about to get up and walk over to her table, the blonde and her friends got up to leave, so Jughead just stayed put, wishing the blonde would look his way. 

Just as she was about to walk out the door, she turned her head, and their eyes met again. This time though, she didn’t stay. She met Jughead’s gaze for one second, and then ran off to catch up with her friends. 

But that one second was all it took. Her meadow green eyes were burned into Jughead’s memory, and he was going to do whatever it took to see her again. 

Jughead said goodbye to his friends, wanting to walk home and clear his head. He knew damn well that he would be thinking about the blonde all night, but the cool September air was refreshing. He made it to his trailer, not surprised that his father wasn’t there.  
While Jughead and the younger Serpents hung out at Pop’s on Friday nights, the older Serpents chose to spend their nights gambling and drinking at the Whyte Wyrm, the most dangerous place in Southside. Jughead knew he and the boys would be there tomorrow night, helping his fellow Serpents with their business, but for now, he just flopped on the couch, grunting when his fluffy little dog jumped right on his stomach. 

“Hey Hot Dog”, Jughead said, immediately petting the dog while he licked his face. Exhaustion came out of nowhere, and Jughead was drifting off to sleep, blue eyes closing to dream of green ones, when there was a knock on the door. 

Jughead groaned, getting up to open the door, pulling his beanie back on his head, his frustration turning into anger when he saw the last person he wanted to see in his doorway, Toni Topaz. 

“What are you doing here, Toni?” Jughead said, a hard edge to his voice.

Toni had to hide a wince. “Aww, come on Jones, we’ve had some good times in here, let me in” she said.

Jughead put his arm up, blocking her from entering. “No”. It was one word, but it conveyed a lot. Jughead was sick of Toni’s games. It’s all she knew how to do. Yeah, they had some good laughs doing stupid shit around Southside, but whatever he felt for Toni, it wasn’t love. She was a distraction from the pain Jughead felt after his mom left, and once Jughead realized he could never love her, he ended things. He tried to be nice, but her constantly showing up was getting really fucking old. 

Toni moved her arms around his waist. “Come on baby, why are you so tense? You know I can make you feel better”  
Jughead grabbed her hands and took them off of him. “Go home, Toni. It’s been months, let it go”.

Toni just stared at him, tears welling in her eyes. Jughead felt bad for a split second, but knew he needed to be cold in order to make her understand. 

“Have fun pining over that Northside princess” Toni spat, “she’ll never understand your life, what it’s like to be one of us.”

“I said go home, Toni. Don’t come back”, and with that Jughead closed the door in her face, and dropped back on the couch. He sat there for a few minutes, replaying what just happened in his head. He knew how crazy Toni could get and wondered if he just made a big mistake, but then his thoughts drifted back to pink neon lights and pink lips as Hot Dog hopped back on him, and Jughead finally let his exhaustion win. 

Toni stood outside, staring at the door. She couldn’t believe the way Jughead had just treated her. She walked away, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes. Like hell she was gonna let some Northside priss take what was once hers. She was prepared to fight for Jughead Jones. 

On the other side of town, Betty Cooper was dancing around her room, still in her vixens uniform, still high off making the team and locking eyes with the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. 

She finally flopped on her bed, staring at her ceiling, praying that she wouldn’t have to wait until next Friday to see him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr @killmongerforever :)


	3. Goodbye to Sandra Dee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty ends up on the Southside of town, and runs into a boy she's spent days thinking about.

As Betty was running around the track for what seemed like the millionth time, she reminded herself that she wanted this. Once Cheryl got bored with tormenting her and Veronica, it would all be worth it. 

But, that was hard to remember as her and Veronica were running side by side, panting, and sweating, the cool September air stinging their faces. 

It was Monday afternoon, and after learning the routine for Friday night’s football game, Cheryl not so politely hinted that the girls needed to get in shape. Her exact words were, “This isn’t Hairspray. Everyone was fine with having a girl like Tracy Turnblad on the Corny Collins show, but I expect all of my vixens to be Amber Von Tussle’s. So, you two will be running laps every day after practice” Cheryl said with a fake smile. 

“How many laps?” Veronica asked

“Until I say stop”, Cheryl concluded with a grin, sitting herself down on the bleachers with the rest of vixens to watch the boys’ football practice while she waved Betty and Veronica off. 

Aside from the fact that Cheryl was doing this just to mess with them, Betty honestly didn’t mind running laps. The way her feet hit the turf, leaping from step to step, inhaling and exhaling, the cool air hitting her lungs, for the first time in awhile Betty felt like she could breathe. Which was funny, considering how fast she was running was making her lose her breath. It was a welcome distraction and a very rewarding feeling. Betty hadn’t clenched her fists all weekend, and the strenuous physical activity allowed her to get her frustration and fear out. She was sick of hiding, and if she had to run laps and put up with Cheryl’s bitchiness, she would do it, remembering how beautiful and confident she felt in her vixens uniform. Now that Betty had a taste, there was no way she was letting it go. 

Of course, there was another distraction that kept Betty’s mind occupied, and it was a pair of ocean blue eyes. Betty knew she was being stupid. She was acting like one of those obsessed, mushy, girls just because a boy winked at her. But damn, was he beautiful. Betty smiled to herself, remembering the boy’s smug grin, when someone broke her focus. 

“What’s so funny, Cooper?”.

The voice belonged to Chuck Clayton, as he walked next to Jason Blossom, the rest of the football team trailing behind them as they made their way to the locker room. 

Veronica groaned, “We’ve been running that long?! The boys are done with their practice!!” She shot an annoyed look at Cheryl.

“Come on Cher”, Jason said, “let the girls go home”. 

Cheryl hated that her brother was undermining her authority, but knew better than to defy him.  
“Fine”, Cheryl said, “Veronica, Betty, you can go”. 

“Not so fast” Chuck said, jogging to block Veronica and Betty.

Betty was surprised to say the least. Chuck Clayton never gave her the time of day. 

“Can we help you with something?” Veronica asked, putting her hands on her hips. 

“Actually, yes. There’s a party at my house after the game on Friday. I want you both to come”

Cheryl stood nearby, listening to the conversation play out. Over her dead body would Betty and Veronica climb the ranks of this school. Veronica had daddy issues, and was on the verge of being poor, and Betty well, she was boring, predictable Betty. Order needed to be restored. Cheryl walked away, her mind already hatching a plan if the girls did show up on Friday night. 

Betty was about to open her mouth to decline when Veronica chirped, “Of course we’ll be there!” 

Chuck looked them both over in a way that made Betty uncomfortable. She did not want to be anywhere near Chuck, knowing full well the only reason he was even over here was because her and Veronica were vixens now. She knew his reputation around school. On a good day, he was a player. On a bad day, he was a total fuckboy. 

And, as much as Betty hated to admit it, she was hoping to go back to Pop’s Friday night and run into the Southside boy who had been dominating her thoughts since then. 

But, she understood that Veronica was new, and while she was trying to change, some things about herself would always stick, like her love for dancing and a good party. She decided she would go for V, considering it payment for everything Veronica did to get Betty and her on the vixens. 

Betty and Veronica walked into the locker room, arms linked, as Veronica was already rambling about what should they wear?, and did Betty know if Archie was going?, and what time she should come over to get ready?, while Betty drowned her out. 

Going to a party as a vixen was something Betty had always dreamed of, but she couldn’t stop the feeling of disappointment washing over her, as she sulked over the fact that she might never see the blue eyed boy again. 

When Betty came home, Polly was also home for a change. They ate a family dinner, and Polly kept eyeing Betty, who was only pushing around the food on her plate. 

Later that night, Polly knocked on Betty’s door. She moved to sit on the edge of Betty’s bed. 

“Are you not eating because of what Cheryl said to you at practice?” Polly asked, concern evident in her voice.  
“Because you know she only said that because you and Veronica are new to the squad, right? When I first joined, she called me a whale!” 

Betty sighed. “No, I just wasn’t very hungry tonight. I swear, I’m okay, Polly. Come on, you’ve seen me eat a whole pizza by myself”

Polly laughed, “I still can’t believe you did that!”.

“Why are you dressed like you’re going out? It’s 10pm” Betty asked her sister, looking at her clock after just now noticing Polly was in a dress under her coat. 

“Because, I am” Polly said with a grin. “Jason is waiting outside, but I wanted to check on you first…”,

After a slight pause, Polly asked, “do you wanna come?”

“Where are you guys going?”

“Josie McCoy is having a back to school bonfire by Sweetwater River”.

“Thanks Pol, but I clearly wasn’t invited”

“Well, I’m inviting you! And besides, no one can turn you away if you show up with me and Jason. Jason runs Riverdale High, even more so than Cheryl, and you know it” Polly said. 

Betty looked at herself in the mirror, feeling like Sandy in Grease at the racing scene. She did not want to be “a poor man’s Sandra Dee” anymore, and Polly was giving her a chance to change that. Veronica had pushed her to join the vixens, and it paid off. It was time to take another risk. 

“Okay” Betty smiled, “I’ll come”.

Polly hugged her sister. “You won’t regret it, I promise!”  
And the two perfect Cooper girls snuck out of Betty’s window.

Jason and Polly kissed hello, and he waved to Betty. As soon as they were in the car Jason said, “we have to make a stop in Southside really quick”.

Betty’s and Polly’s hearts started beating faster, but for two completely different reasons.  
Polly’s in fear, Betty’s in excitement. 

“Why the hell do we need to go there?!” Polly asked, making Betty uncomfortable as she did not want to be around for this fight, but also slightly annoyed at the fact that her sister could ruin the chance of Betty running into the boy from the diner. 

Jason cupped Polly’s face. “It’s okay, babe. I just need to pick up something for Moose and Midge, and then we’ll head to the bonfire”. 

Polly stared at Jason, and Jason stared back, both having a silent conversation, but in the end, Polly looked away first. Jason Blossom always got what he wanted, and this time, Betty was glad for that. 

Driving through the streets of Southside, Betty couldn’t believe how different it was from their neighborhood. Instead of houses with bright flowers and clean cut lawns, Betty saw broken windows and graffiti on buildings, shocked at how a 10 min drive could make Betty feel like she wasn’t even in the same town. 

Jason stopped the car in front of a building called the Whyte Wyrm. He kissed Polly before leaving, telling her he’d be back in five minutes. Betty watched her sister look after him out the window with a nervous expression on her face, confused as to why Polly seemed so worried. 

As Jason was walking into the building, Betty’s eyes opened wide as she saw who was walking out. The blue eyed boy from the diner with the same boys he had been with Friday night. Betty saw him place a hand on Jason’s chest, blocking him from going inside. She could see them conversing, and she looked over at Polly to see that her face had grown even more distraught. They couldn’t hear the conversation between Jason and the boy but it looked intense. The boy removed his hand from Jason’s chest and let him go inside, lighting a cigarette and turning his back to Betty to talk to his friends, giving Betty the perfect view of a green snake on his back. 

Betty just stared. The boy hadn’t seen her, so if she wanted to talk to him, she would have to conjure up the courage to get out of the car, and walk over there. She looked down at her outfit, grateful she decided to go with a pink denim skirt, and a white tank top with a cardigan instead of her old worn out jeans and a sweater. She had thrown on some mascara and pink lipstick hastily, but she didn’t look totally unpresentable. She looked back to the boy who was still outside smoking with his friends. 

Was she really about to this? Could she actually do it? Normally, Betty would run away from a situation like this, but every fiber in her body was telling her to get out of the car. Jason said he would be back in five minutes, and she didn’t want to miss her chance. 

She put her hand on the door, and took a deep breath. She was saying goodbye to Sandra Dee.

“I’ll be right back” she told Polly, slamming the door shut before Polly had a chance to stop her, and began walking quickly to the dreamy blue eyed boy. 

His back was still turned to her, so his friends saw her coming before he did. Joaquin’s eyes went wide as he cleared his throat, trying to get Jughead’s attention. 

“You choking there, DeSantos?” Jughead asked, but Joaquin didn’t say anything. He just motioned behind Jughead with his eyes, and Jughead turned around, just in time to see a pretty blonde in a pink skirt approaching him. 

Jughead thought he was dreaming. She was here? In Southside? Wearing that? Was she crazy? Didn’t she know how dangerous it was? 

A million thoughts swarmed in Jughead’s mind but one overpowered the rest: Damn, was she beautiful. 

Betty crossed her arms, the chill in the air finally registering to her body as she hugged herself to try and keep warm. Now that she was here, standing in front of him, she didn’t really know what to say. 

Jughead didn’t know what to say either, so he asked, “Would you like one?” holding out a cigarette to her. 

“Um…no thank you”, Betty said quietly, the awkward silence filling the air. 

This is not how she imagined their first conversation to be. She didn’t really know what she expected when she started walking over here, but she didn’t expect it to be this uncomfortable. All four Serpents were staring at her, not saying a word. 

Of course she didn’t want one, Jughead thought. He felt so stupid for even offering her one. He was normally so confident around girls, always in control. But with her, he was nervous. He stood there, just looking at her, opening his mouth to say something but then closing it right away, not wanting to sound dumb again. 

Joaquin couldn’t take the awkwardness anymore. He looked at Jughead, who was clearly struggling with his words at the moment. He figured he should help him out. 

“What brings you to Southside?” Joaquin asked Betty. 

Him, Betty wanted to say, looking to Jughead. She immediately became distracted by his handsome features. He had a slight end of the summer tan, that would eventually completely fade away with winter. It made his blue eyes stand out a little more. His dark hair was still under a crown shaped beanie. 

But she knew that wasn’t the answer this serpent was looking for, so instead she said, 

“Um, well, I was heading to a bonfire…” but Betty never got to finish her sentence because, of course, that is the moment Jason decided to walk out of the bar. 

“Betty?! What the hell? Why didn’t you stay in the car? Are they bothering you?” Jason asked frantically. 

Jughead immediately got defensive, his confidence returning. “Ease up, Blossom. We were just talking”, he said stepping towards him. 

“I don’t know what you could possibly be talking to her about, but we’re leaving. Now. Let’s go Betty”. He pulled on Betty’s arm to get her to start walking, but Betty wasn’t moving. 

Jason was getting frustrated. “Betty, what the hell? Let’s go”. 

“Just give me a minute, Jason. I’ll be right there. Tell Polly I’m okay” she said. 

“Fine”, Jason said. “I’ll be in the car” he said to Betty, and to Jughead he said, “I’m watching you, Jones”, as he walked away. Jughead rolled his eyes. 

Jughead finally found his words, “So, it’s Betty, is it?” 

“Betty Cooper”, she said.

“Well, Betty Cooper, I’m Jughead Jones, and I guess now we know what brings you to the Southside”.

“Jason was just my ride” Betty began to explain, “to the bonfire. He’s dating my sister, and I decided to tag along”

“Out on a school night? To a bonfire no less? You’re wild, Betty Cooper”, Jughead said with a smile. 

“You’re out on a school night too, hanging out outside a bar no less?” she said mockingly. “So, who’s really the wild one?” Betty retorted, eyebrow raised, surprised at her own confidence. 

The girl had spunk, Jughead gave her that. Approaching him on his side of town, hiding her sass behind a pink skirt and a ponytail. She was not at all what he expected. 

“What can I say, Betty Cooper, I like a little danger in my life” he said, breaking into that boyish grin Betty couldn’t stop thinking about. 

Betty jumped as she heard a car horn cut through the air. Turning around, she saw Polly through the window, waving at her to get in. 

“I guess that’s your cue” Jughead said, trying to hide his disappointment. 

Betty couldn’t decide what to do. She knew Polly and Jason were waiting for her, and she knew what she was doing wasn’t exactly smart. Standing outside a Southside bar in front of four serpents? Her mother would kill her if she saw her. But now she had a name to the handsome face in front of her, and she wanted more time with him. 

“The bonfire is at Sweetwater River” Betty suddenly blurted out, “and there’s a pretty nice view on Sweetwater Bridge. Do you know it?” Betty asked Jughead.

“I do” he said, bringing his cigarette to his lips. Betty watched him blow out the smoke and kept her eyes there a little longer than she should have. 

“Will I be you seeing you there tonight?” she asked, fiddling with her fingers to keep herself from shaking, afraid that he would say no, moving her gaze from his lips to his eyes. 

Jughead gave her a wink, one that made her weak in the knees, and she took that as a yes. She smiled at him, before turning around and jogging to the car, blushing the entire way there. 

Jughead watched her go, still stunned at the fact that she had just invited him to a Northside party. She clearly didn’t know the boundary lines, but he wasn’t about to let some stupid town rivalry keep him from getting to know Betty Cooper. He watched her car drive away, dropping his cigarette and putting it out with his shoe. 

“Yo Jones” Joaquin said, “you really think it’s wise to be hanging out on the Northside?” 

“No”, Jughead said, turning to Joaquin, “but I’m gonna do it anyway”.

Joaquin smiled. “Alright, boys, let’s go. We got a bonfire to crash” he said. 

Fangs and Sweet Pea hopped in the back of Joaquin’s car while Jughead stepped into the front seat. Joaquin turned his music all the way up, speeding off to the Northside of town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please comment, kudos, or message me on tumblr @killmongerforever  
> I love your feedback and it is so so appreciated :) <3


	4. A New Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Northside and Southside officially meet at a bonfire by Sweetwater River.

Despite the cool air, Jughead rolled down his window as Joaquin drove past his worn down, broken neighborhood that he had come to love. The Southside might not be the most aesthetically pleasing part of town to look at, but it is the only home that Jughead has ever known. The people might wear leather jackets, accompanied with stern faces and tough attitudes, but they are also Jughead’s family. They were there when no one else was. 

Whether by choice or circumstance someone decided to join the Serpents, and even though they often had to do things they thought they would never have to do, the Serpents provided a sense of purpose and belonging for a lot of people who had grown up without having much. And while they were judged pretty harshly for their snake tattoos, Serpents wore them with pride, glad to be a part of something bigger than themselves. 

Jughead once heard his dad say that as long as someone didn’t step on a snake, they had no reason to bite, which is a philosophy the Serpents chose to live by. Unless provoked, they minded their own business. Unfortunately for them, there were a lot of people in Riverdale who liked to step on snakes for fun, and Serpents were starting to get sick of being treated like trash simply for trying to do the best they could with the circumstances they were given. Jobs were hard to come by on the Southside, and no Northsider would ever hire a snake. So what was left for them? The Serpents provided security, protection, a promise that someone would always be there to have your back. If the trade off for that was dealing weed and minor crimes, well, what other choice did Southsiders have?

They could always join the Ghoulies, a rival gang involved with much harder, darker things than weed and petty theft. Ghoulies carried guns, and dealt with cocaine and jingle jangle. The Ghoulies weren’t a family, they were a cult. Those hungry for power and danger joined the Ghoulies not as a means for survival, but for fun. Hurting people just to put a little more money in your pocket? Serpents couldn’t get behind that. 

The problem was that Northsiders rarely differentiated the Serpents from the Ghoulies. They were both lumped into the category of “thugs”, “delinquents”, “low lives with no manners and no future”. Hence, the never ending civil war in Riverdale. 

But at that moment, Jughead didn’t really care what people thought. He was only hoping Betty Cooper could look past the town rivalry too. 

Joaquin, Fangs, and Sweet Pea were all screaming along to the radio, while Jugehad stared out the window, trying to come up with things to say to the beautiful girl that is Betty Cooper. Even her name sounded sweet, a perfect fit, he thought. 

He was so lost in thought he didn’t even realize they were at Sweetwater River. As they all hopped out of the car, Jughead could see the orange glow of the fire, teenagers drinking out of bottles and swaying to the music. He spotted Betty sitting on a rock, looking at her surroundings before turning to the parking lot where she spotted him. Her mouth instantly formed a smile, and Jughead felt a funny feeling in his stomach because he was the reason behind it. Betty waved them over, and Jughead took a deep breath. This could either be fine, or end really, really, badly. 

Joaquin slapped the back of Jughead’s shoulder, pushing him forward. “Let’s get this show on the road, Jones”. And all four boys started walking to the bonfire. 

Jason was standing behind Polly, with his arms around her waist as they listened to Moose and Reggie complain about how their science teacher was out to get them and that’s why they got detention for a week. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact they made a huge mess mixing random chemicals, which made Polly roll her eyes. 

Jason noticed Betty staring to her right, and when he followed her line of vision he saw Jughead and his friends walking towards them. He let go of Polly and started walking towards them, Betty following closely behind, afraid of what was about to happen. 

“What the hell are you doing here, Jones? Betty told us she invited you but I told her no way in hell would a snake show his face on the Northside”.

“Well, that’s the problem with you Northsiders isn’t it?” said Jughead. “You think you know us, when you don’t have a damn clue”. 

Joaquin jumped in, unable to hide his anger anymore. “Yeah, Blossom. What? You’ll come to the Southside, get what you want from us, and then still treat us like shit? We’re sick of being used”. 

Betty just stood there, eyes flashing from Jughead to Jason. If Jason made a move, someone was going to get hurt, and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be Jughead. Things were escalating quickly, she didn’t think it would be this bad. 

Much to everyone’s surprise, Josie McCoy walked and stood inbetween the two boys. Everyone at the bonfire had gone silent, waiting to see if a fight would break out. 

“Okay listen”, Josie began. “This is my bonfire, and my mother, the MAYOR, is not gonna be too happy if she finds out a Northside/Southside brawl broke out at an event I was hosting. This whole town rivalry thing is getting sooo old anyway”, she added with an eyeroll. Josie pointed to Joaquin, “The man’s got a point” she said, looking to Jason, and then to everyone at the bonfire. “The weed everyone is smoking here tonight came from the Southside, so why don’t we start by being better than our parents and stop pretending we’re so much better than them? Let’s cut the civil war bullshit, and just be nice. Maybe we can be the generation that changes things in Riverdale”. 

It was silent for a moment, but then Reggie and Moose started a slow clap and cheers erupted from the students. A few students stayed silent, including Chuck Clayton and Cheryl Blossom, afraid to speak up. This civil war cut deep and things wouldn’t change overnight, but what Josie said was a start.  
Jason looked to Josie, shocked that someone would ever stand up to him, and angry because he knew that she was right. He looked to Jughead. “I’m still watching you, Jones”.

“Go right ahead, Blossom”, Jughead said with a smirk, turning his head to wink at Betty. Betty smiled. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that she invited him after all. 

Moose and Reggie came up to the Serpents. “Alright” Reggie said, “now that the after school special is over can we please get back to partying? There’s beer in the cooler guys, help yourself”. 

Joaquin, Fangs, and SweetPea followed Moose and Reggie, rolling their eyes as Moose asked, “So, have you guys ever, like, killed anyone?” 

Jason went back to Polly, who’s worried expression was now replaced by a happy one, glad to know that there would be no fighting, at least not tonight. Josie turned the music up, and everyone went back to where they were before, leaving Jughead and Betty in the shadows by the trees. 

“I believe you mentioned a nice view?” Jughead asked her. 

“Right this way” said Betty, as they began walking towards Sweetwater Bridge. 

They were quiet for a moment, walking side by side, arms almost touching but not quite. This time, the silence wasn’t uncomfortable. It was peaceful, as they both crossed the bridge and took in the view of the water, the moon reflecting on the surface, and looking up to see the stars. 

Betty was the first to speak, needing to get something off her chest. “I’m really sorry if I crossed a line” she said. “When I told Jason and Polly I had invited you to come they both practically bit my head off. I knew things were bad between the Southside and the Northside but I didn’t think they were THAT bad. Jason said you wouldn’t come, but I still hoped you would” 

Jughead looked at her, thinking it was adorable she felt guilty for inviting him tonight. He had to make it right. 

“Betty” he whispered, and she turned her head. “This mess with the town, it’s not your fault. In fact, it is so refreshing to meet someone who doesn’t give a shit about any of it. I thought all Northsiders were stuck up, privileged, assholes but you inviting me here, and the Mayor’s daughter of all people sticking up for us like that, it really opened my eyes. I think for the first time in history, Serpents are hanging out with people outside of the gang, and that’s because of you. Because you took a risk, and gave us a chance, even knowing the symbol we wear on our backs. Because you were brave”. Jughead was truly in awe of the girl standing before him. 

Betty had to fight back tears. No one had ever called her brave before. They called her pretty, sweet, kind, and lovely, but no one had ever called her brave. Yet here was Jughead, whom she barely knew, giving her the greatest compliment she had ever received. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach as he looked at her, and she knew for sure that she was in trouble. A smile formed on her lips as she let out a giggle.

“What are you laughing at?” Jughead said with a smile.

“I don’t want to come off rude” she said, “but why is your name Jughead?” 

Jughead laughed. “It’s a nickname. A weird one, I know. My parents hate me”.

“No!”, Betty said quickly, feeling guilty that she made him feel self -conscious. “I mean, it’s different” she said, “but I like it. It fits you”.

“Funny” said Jughead, “I was thinking the same thing about your name”, with a smile forming on his lips. 

He was looking at her with intense eyes, and Betty found herself moving closer to him. Jughead stepped closer too. 

“Thank you” Betty said, “for calling me brave”, taking another step closer. 

“It’s true” Jughead said, also taking another step towards her.

They were only inches apart. The moonlight shining down on them. The only sounds were the waves of the water, the animals in the woods, and their breathing, mixing together. Jughead could smell the strawberry coming off her lips, and Betty could practically taste the nicotine as he exhaled. 

Jughead looked into her eyes, waiting to see if this was okay, but he found her staring at his lips. He took that as a yes. He leaned down, eyes closed, ready to press his lips against hers when someone ran past them, shouting, startling them both as they broke apart. Jughead turned his head, if it was one of the Serpents, he was gonna kill them. But it was Reggie, stoned out of his mind, running across the bridge back and forth. 

Betty and Jughead looked at Reggie, and then to each other, busting out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Jughead couldn’t remember the last time he laughed like that. A true, genuine, laugh. He looked to Betty, stunned at how beautiful her laugh was. 

Jason, Polly, and the rest of the Serpents came running up to the bridge then. 

“Reggie” Jason said, clearly frustrated, “Let’s go. I’ll give you a ride home”.  
Reggie just kept running, but then Fangs and SweetPea grabbed him, holding him in his place. 

Jason was surprised. He was nothing but mean to the Serpents but they were still willing to help him out. “Thanks” Jason said, “my car is this way”. The Serpents followed Jason, with a laughing Reggie in their hands. 

“You ready, Betty?” Polly said, looking at her and Jughead. 

“Five minutes?” Betty asked. “I’ll meet you at the car”

Polly raised her eyebrow, but she smiled and nodded, leaving her sister be. She trusted Betty’s judgment. 

“So…” Betty said, trailing off, not wanting to say goodbye. She was about to have her first kiss, and everything was so romantic, but stupid Reggie Mantle had to go and ruin it. 

“So…” Jughead said, waiting for her to finish. 

“There’s a party Friday night”, Betty said. 

“A Northside party?” Jughead asked. 

“Yes…” Betty paused, “but things went so well tonight I was wondering if maybe you would wanna be my date?” 

“Tonight did go well, but I say we quit while we’re ahead. Baby steps” Jughead smiled.

Betty’s face was turning red, the feeling of rejection beginning to take over when Jughead spoke again. 

“I usually spend Friday nights at Pop’s, but I’ll tell you what. I’d be willing to go two days in a row if you agreed to dinner with me Saturday night?” he asked. 

Betty’s embarrassment quickly faded. “I would love to, Jughead Jones”. 

“It’s a date, Betty Cooper”. Jughead couldn’t help the giant smile from taking over his face. 

“Two more things”, he added, as Betty was starting to walk away. 

“What’s the first?” Betty asked. 

“Can I have your number?” Jughead asked, still feeling nervous even though he was pretty sure she was gonna say yes. 

Betty held her hand out, as Jughead placed his phone in her palm. She added her number into his contacts, and placed the phone back in his hand, their hands still lingering there as their fingers brushed. 

Jughead put the phone in his pocket, and took a step towards her, his eyes never leaving hers. 

Betty looked up at him. “What’s the second thing?” she asked, her voice just above a whisper. 

She barely got the question out before Jughead was cradling Betty’s face as he pressed his lips onto hers. He was right, she tasted like strawberries and he could also smell the vanilla scent of her perfume. It was intoxicating. 

His lips were only on hers for a second, before pulling away. He dropped his hands from her face and looked down at her. 

Betty still had her eyes closed, but she was smiling. She opened her eyes, and saw that he was staring at her the same way she was staring at him. Despite the weird events of the night, Betty Cooper had her first kiss on Sweetwater Bridge past midnight on a school night with a Southside Serpent. She moved a little closer to kiss him on the cheek before stepping back and turning on her heel to walk back to the car. She brought her fingers to her lips, brushing them against the surface, still in disbelief that someone as handsome as Jughead Jones had kissed her. 

When Betty got to the car, she said goodbye to Joaquin and the other Serpents before climbing in. Joaquin noticed her expression and had a pretty good idea of what just happened. 

Joaquin got into the car, and didn’t even look at Jughead, didn’t say a word, but from the corner of his eye Jughead could see the smirk on his face. 

“Oh shut the hell up, DeSantos” Jughead said, finally looking at his best friend, and all four boys broke out into laughter.

It wasn’t Friday night, and they weren’t at Pop’s, but it was still Jughead and his boys, and he had just kissed Betty Cooper.


	5. Good Girls Are Bad Girls That Haven't Been Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Veronica go to Chuck's party, and as usual, Cheryl causes some chaos.

On Tuesday morning, Betty woke up exhausted after getting so little sleep the night before, but she didn’t care. She connected her phone to her speaker, dancing and singing as she hopped in the shower and got ready for school. She was tying her shoelaces when Polly came into her room.

“So…you and a Serpent?” Polly asked.

Betty bit her bottom lip. “Do you swear you won’t say anything to anyone, Pol? Not even Jason?”

Polly nodded, “My lips are sealed”.

Betty looked at her sister nervously, fiddling her fingers. “Jughead may or may not have kissed me last night” she said, looking for her sister’s reaction but when Polly didn’t say anything she added, “And I may or may not have kissed him back”.

Polly just stared at her, before jumping up and down squealing, hugging Betty. “OH my God, your first kiss? My little sister is growing up” she said as she made a pout with her lips.

“You’re not mad?” Betty asked.

Polly sighed. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, him being a Serpent and all. But I know what it’s like having people judge your relationship. Mom and Dad hate Jason, but they haven’t even really tried to get to know him. You’ve spent so much time alone in your room, it’s so nice to see you going out, being a cheerleader, just being a teenager. I wouldn’t be your big sister if I didn’t tell you to be careful, and I’ll have the entire football team kick his ass if he hurts you, but I know how hard it is for you to let people in, and if you trust Jughead, then I trust him too”.

Betty hugged her sister. “Thank you so much, Polly”.

Polly pulled away, sitting at Betty’s desk while Betty finished getting ready. “So, when are you gonna see him again?”

“Saturday night. I asked him to be my date to Chuck’s party, but he said we should take baby steps before completely integrating the North and Southside. So, we’re going to Pop’s”

“Excellent choice”, Polly said. “It was smart of Jughead to say no to the party. I heard from Jason that Chuck and Cheryl weren’t too happy about the Serpents being on the Northside, or Josie’s speech. I guess Chuck HATES the Serpents, his family always has”.

“Wow”, Betty said. “I know it’s naïve to think that maybe the North and Southside could get along, but we at least have to try. Like you said, Mom and Dad hate Jason but they don’t even know him. Nobody has ever tried to include the Serpents, and I think that’s really unfair, at least when it comes to the kids. They didn’t choose to be born on the Southside”.

“Look at my baby sis”, said Polly, “first Riverdale, then the world” she said in an impression of a news anchor.

Betty threw a pillow at her sister.

“HEY”, Polly said, laughing as the pillow flopped to the floor.

“I’m serious, Pol. I think this is my new topic for the Blue and Gold”.

“Just be careful, Betty. Like Jughead said, baby steps. Just because no one fought at the bonfire last night doesn’t mean everyone feels the same way you and Josie do”.

“ Of course,” she said to Polly. Betty looked into the mirror as she pulled her hair back into her signature ponytail. Betty was done playing it safe. She was writing that article.

***

The school day was dragging. Betty was so happy when the fourth period bell rang, meaning she could go to lunch. She was dying to tell V, Archie, and Kevin about her night but I guess someone beat her to it, as they were already bombarding her with questions as she approached their lunch table.

“I heard there was almost a fight” Archie said.

“Almost”, Betty started, “But Josie actually stopped it before things got out of hand”.

“So, what?” Archie asked, “the Serpents just like hung out with you guys? How did they even know about the bonfire?”

Betty looked down at her lunch. Whoever told them about the bonfire clearly didn’t tell them how Betty was involved.

Kevin looked at Betty, knowing her face better than anyone.  
“Betty Cooper, you are the worst at playing it cool. You went to a super cool bonfire without us, the least you could do is tell us about it. Spill”.

Veronica, Kevin, and Archie were all staring at her, and Betty knew the very little composure she was holding on to would crack soon. So, she started from the beginning, from the first time she saw Jughead, to Polly inviting her to the bonfire, to her standing outside the Whyte Wyrm, even the Serpents showing up, and her kiss with Jughead. She recounted every detail as her friends just listened, all of their mouths hanging open by the end.

“Damn B,” Veronica said approvingly, “I didn’t think you had it in you”.

“To quote the ever amazing Five Seconds of Summer” Kevin began, “ ‘Good girls are bad girls that haven’t been caught’. I have been waiting for this day”.

Betty laughed, “I appreciate the support, Kev”.

Betty looked to Archie, who still had yet to even look at her. He just stayed quiet, eating his lunch. Not wanting to press him, Betty ignored it. He would talk when he was ready. 

***

After another long practice thanks to Cheryl making Betty run laps again, Betty was starving by the time she got home from school. Her mom and dad weren’t home, having a late night at the Register Betty assumed. So her and Polly decided to order pizza and they both retreated to their rooms to do homework and get ready for bed. Betty was in the middle of an extremely difficult math problem when she felt her phone vibrate next to her. She had been so wrapped up in her own mind today, but when she opened the text message, some of the stress she had been carrying around went away. It was from an unknown number, but Betty knew who it was.

Jughead: Hey beautiful, how was your day? See any jocks running around the halls? ;)

Betty smiled to herself as she began typing her reply.

Betty: No, Reggie was back to normal today. Well, as normal as Reggie can be lol.

Jughead: Haha, that’s good. So…last night…

Betty: What about it?

Jughead: I can’t stop thinking about it.

Betty thought she was going to melt into a puddle in her desk chair.

Betty: Me neither :)

Jughead: I can’t wait to see you Saturday. Sweet dreams, Betty.

Betty sent him a burger, milkshake, and smiley face emoji before closing her phone and going back to her homework, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to focus knowing that while she was in her room thinking of him, Jughead Jones was thinking of her too.

The rest of the week was basically the same. Betty went to class, sat at lunch with her friends, her and Archie talking without actually talking. She and Veronica worked hard to perfect the dance moves for Friday night’s game, and worked even harder on the track after practice. They hated Cheryl for it, but it was working. Their endurance was getting longer and the girls were getting stronger. Before going to bed, Betty would stare at the ceiling and count down the days until her date with Jughead. They texted here and there, but only small conversations, both wanting to get to know the other in person.

Betty woke up on Friday morning eager to get the day started. Today was the day she would be cheering on the field. She also had that stupid party at Chuck’s, but Betty would suffer through it because tomorrow she would finally get to see Jughead again.

She put on her cheerleading uniform, tightened her ponytail, grabbed her backpack, and her and Polly headed to school. 

***

The football game went by in a blur. Betty was so nervous and excited to be cheering on the field, it felt like she had only been there for five minutes when the half- time buzzer sounded, signaling it was time for the vixens to line up. The bulldogs were winning thanks to some pretty good plays from Jason and Chuck, and that good luck and high energy from the crowd seemed to rub off on the girls as their dance was executed without a hitch, Betty and Veronica hitting every count. As Betty hit her final mark with sass, she looked to the bleachers to see her mom giving her a disapproving look. Betty immediately looked away, not wanting her mom to ruin her moment. Veronica and Polly ran to Betty, all girls happy that the dance went so well. 

Cheryl came over then, “Not gonna lie, I was expecting you two to fall on your faces. I guess there’s always the next game!”, she said with fake enthusiasm. Between her mom’s disgust and Cheryl’s backhanded compliment, Betty’s high was starting to come down. Veronica grabbed her arm.

“Hey, don’t listen to her. She’s just salty cause we SLAYED tonight”, Veronica said.

Betty plastered on her fakest smile, “You’re right, V. Come on, let’s go get ready for the party”, she said, even though that was the last place Betty wanted to be right now.

***

The bulldogs won the game, so by the time the girls got to the party (a little more than fashionably late thanks to Veronica changing five times), some people were already tipsy thanks to Chuck handing out celebratory shots. Chuck approached them at the door, two shots in his hands.

“You gotta catch up ladies” he said, handing a shot to Betty and Veronica. They decided to uber, and while Betty had never drank before, she figured her mood was already pretty low so maybe the alcohol could help. She clinked her shot glass with Veronica’s and then poured the liquid down her throat, immediately feeling the burn.

“Atta girl, Cooper”, Chuck said, trailing his eyes down Betty’s body. Veronica insisted she wore a dress, and while it was still pink, a Betty Cooper trademark, it was strapless and tight. Betty paired it with her white converse, not wanting her feet to kill her by the end of the night, and much to Veronica’s surprise, it actually worked.

“You look different”, Chuck said.

“Thank you?” Betty said, not sure if that was a compliment.

“Good different” Chuck said. “Can I get you a drink?” he asked.

Veronica piped up then, looking up from her phone. “Archie said he’s by the keg, so he can do it for us. Thanks though!”, grabbing Betty’s hand to weave her through the crowd.

“Thank you”, Betty said, “Chuck was being weird, right?”

“I can’t say I blame him”, Veronica said, “you look gorgeous tonight, but I know he’s not the one you have eyes for” giving her friend a wink.

When they finally spotted Archie, Betty could already tell he was drunk, as he and Jason were laughing uncontrollably at Reggie and Moose singing “Hollaback Girl” on the karaoke machine in the backyard. Polly was a little tipsy as well, putting her cup to her lips for another drink. Jason spotted the girls and immediately grabbed a bottle. “Alright vixens, your turn”.

Betty felt safer surrounded by her closest friends and her sister, so she and Veronica took swigs, passing the bottle back and forth. After Betty’s fourth sip, she could feel herself getting happier, and a little dizzy. She was dancing with Polly while Jason and Archie stepped up to the karaoke machine, making the girls die with laughter as they completely butchered “Don’t Cha” by the Pussycat Dolls, swaying their hips. Veronica threw a dollar bill at Archie and he took his shirt off, causing the crowd to scream. It was the most fun Betty had in a long time. She had forgotten all about her bad mood from earlier. 

Chuck appeared then, with a card in his hand. “Suck and blow, anyone?”. Betty recognized the game from Clueless, a movie she’s watched a million times.

“I’m so down” Archie said, and Veronica said she would play too, wanting to get closer to kissing Archie. Before Betty knew it, she was in the middle of the circle as the card was being passed around by lips. When it was her turn, she went to blow into Chuck’s lips, but he let the card fall, locking lips with Betty. Betty immediately pulled away, beyond thankful that was not her first kiss. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and told Veronica she was going to the bathroom. She found Polly there, rubbing circles on Jason’s back as he threw up into the toilet.

“I think I’m gonna take him home” Polly said. “Do you want to leave too?”.

“Thanks,” said Betty, “but Veronica probably wants to stay a little longer. 

“Are you having a good time at least?”, Polly asked. 

“Yeah! Except I just kind of kissed Chuck in a game of suck and blow”, Betty said, a look of disgust forming on her face. 

“Oh, gross” Polly said. 

Jason got up then, feeling a little better after emptying the contents of his stomach. 

“You could do a lot worse than Clayton” Jason said, his vomit breath almost making Betty gag.

“Ugh, now that’s gross” Betty said, moving out of their way. 

Polly smiled at her sister. “I’ll see you at home?” 

“Sure thing, text me when you and Jason get home!”, Betty said, saying goodbye to her sister.   
She closed the bathroom door, not knowing that a certain red headed witch had just heard Jason and Polly leave, and she went to find Chuck. 

“Hey Chuck”, Cheryl said, scooting closer next to him. 

Chuck rolled his eyes. “What do you want, Cheryl?”

“You’ll never believe what I just heard”...she said, giving Chuck a flirty smile.

“What did you hear?” he said, slurring his words. He was beyond drunk.

“I was on my way to the bathroom when I heard Betty talking to her sister that she was swooning over your lips on hers during suck and blow” Cheryl said, fake shock covering her features. 

“Bullshit”, Chuck said, “she ran away”.

“She was nervous” Cheryl said, “you were her first kiss”.

“I was?!” Chuck said. “At least she’ll always remember me, right?” A smug grin taking over his face. 

“She also said she wanted more”, Cheryl said. 

“Well then” Chuck said, “I better go give her what she wants”. Walking away, while Cheryl smiled to herself. She loved causing chaos. 

Betty walked out of the bathroom and headed to the backyard. She found Archie and Veronica giggling in the corner, and she didn’t want to interrupt them, knowing full well Veronica was working her charm on Archie. So she went to grab a glass of water, her buzz was coming down and she was suddenly so thirsty. As she approached the drink table, she felt someone brush her arm and looked to her right to see Chuck standing a little too close for comfort. 

“I heard you wanted more of me” Chuck said, winking at her.

“Check your sources, Chuck. Cause they’re not very reliable” Betty said, rolling her eyes. 

“Aww, come on, Cooper. Don’t be a tease” he said, grabbing her hand.

Betty pulled away. “Please don’t touch me”

He moved to whisper in her ear. “You look so good tonight. I promise I’ll be gentle”. 

Betty couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed the nearest cup and threw it at Chuck’s face. 

“You little bitch” Chuck yelled, “What? Are you off your meds?”

Betty stepped back, tears forming in her eyes. “What?” Chuck spat, “the whole town knows you’re fucking crazy. I see your mom filling your prescription all the time”.

It was too much this time. Betty dug her nails into her palms, trying to calm down. Her ADD was something her mother was always ashamed of. She didn’t want a hyper, rowdy, girl. She wanted a sweet, obedient daughter. Betty stopped taking her medication a year ago, but her mother kept insisting. Always refilling her medication. She could hear her mother’s voice in her head now. “Don’t do that, Elizabeth. You need to stay focused, Elizabeth. Everything has to be perfect, Elizabeth”. 

Betty ran out of the house, leaving Veronica, Archie, and everyone behind. Cheryl watched her run down the street, pleased with her work. Perfect Betty Cooper needed to be knocked down a peg. 

Betty ran without a destination in mind. She wanted to go to a place where she felt safe. That wasn’t home. So she ran to the neon lights of Pop’s, wanting to wallow away in a milkshake and fries. She walked through the door, eyes puffy and red, her cheeks stained with tears and pink from the cold, panting heavily. She turned her head, looking for a booth, feeling deja vu as she once again locked eyes with a blue eyed Serpent. 

Jughead was up in a second, walking over to her. “Betty, what happened? Are you okay?” he looked her over, searching for any wounds or signs of physical harm. 

Betty just shook her head, his concern for her making more tears fall. “I’m not okay” she said, biting her lip to keep from sobbing. 

Jughead took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. “Come on” he said, “I’ll take you home”.   
He turned around to head back to his table, but Joaquin was already tossing him his keys. 

“I don’t want to go home” Betty said, her green eyes looking up at Jughead.   
The sadness behind them just about broke Jughead’s heart. 

“Okay” he said, “I know a place we can go”. 

They drove in silence, the only sound being Betty’s soft sniffling as she tried to get her emotions in check. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of embarrassment. She did not want Jughead to see her like this. 

Jughead stopped the car, and Betty realized they were by Sweetwater River, by the bridge where they first kissed.   
Jughead looked at her. “When you asked me if I knew the view on Sweetwater Bridge, I almost couldn’t believe it. Before my mom left, whenever me and my sister were having a bad day, she would take us to the bridge, and we would throw bread into the water to feed all the ducks. It started when we were little, and even as we got older, my sister and I always found ourselves at the bridge, feeding ducks, while my mom would give us advice. I haven’t been back since she left”. 

“When did she leave?” Betty asked. 

“When I was thirteen” Jughead said. “My dad isn’t the most stable, and she couldn’t handle it anymore. So, she took my sister and left”. He was playing with the buttons on the radio, not meeting her eyes. Betty covered his hand with her own. 

“I’m really sorry, Jughead”, Betty said. 

Jughead looked at her then. She wasn’t looking at him with pity, but with understanding. As if she knew what his pain was, and her tone wasn’t sad, it was sincere. Jughead hated talking about his family, but Betty was clearly in a lot of pain too, and he wanted to make her feel better. The bridge is where he always felt safe, and now for a different reason. Instead of making him sad, he would always look at the bridge and remember the moment when he kissed Betty Cooper. 

Betty took a deep breath before speaking. “I was at the party, and this guy, was making it pretty obvious he wanted to do stuff”.

Jughead’s muscles tensed. He didn’t like where this was going. If anyone had touched her against her will, he would have the Serpents on them in minutes. 

“I didn’t want to, so I threw a drink in his face. But then he called me a bitch, and said some other awful things about me”, Betty continued, “he called me crazy, and asked if I was off my meds. I have ADD and my mom is always pushing me to take my medicine”. 

“It’s just…” Betty paused, “Everyone expects me to be perfect. I try so hard to be perfect, and yet everyone knows. They see right through me. Most of the time, they don’t even see me at all”.

She looked up then, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, this is so not how I wanted my first impression to be. You probably think I’m crazy too” Betty said, moving her head back down and playing with her fingers. 

Jughead took his finger and put it under her chin, turning her head to look at him. Betty was surprised to see no confusion or apprehension on his face. In fact, he was looking at her the same way he did right before he kissed her. 

“I see you, Betty Cooper” Jughead said. “From the second you walked into the diner, I saw you”. He moved his finger to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, leaning in closer. 

Betty leaned in closer too, and this time she kissed him. The smoky taste of his lips completely taking over her senses. She broke the kiss, exhaling as if she had been holding her breath this whole time. Jughead stroked his knuckles on her cheek. “We’re all crazy, Betty”, Jughead said, making her smile. 

Just then, Betty’s stomach growled, causing both of them to laugh.   
“Are you hungry?” Betty asked, biting her bottom lip.

Jughead laughed. “Betty Cooper, I am always hungry”. 

Jughead started the car, and they drove back to Pop’s. Betty sat next to Jughead and his friends, as they all ate burgers and shared drunken adventures after Betty told them she had come from a party. Betty laughed so hard after hearing a story about Jughead being so drunk he stood in the back of his dad’s truck yelling that he was “king of the world” like Leonardo DiCaprio in the Titanic. Betty smiled at him, shaking her head. “I rest my case, Jughead Jones. You are definitely the wild one” she said, sipping on her milkshake and looking up at him, nothing but joy in her eyes. All the sadness gone. 

On this particular Friday, Jughead wasn’t even the slightest bit upset that it wasn’t just him and his boys.


	6. Legally Blonde Meets Pulp Fiction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty and Jughead have a movie night.
> 
> Super fluffy chapter, but prepare for future angst ;)

Jughead looked over to Joaquin, rolling his eyes. “Thanks so much for sharing that story, dude. I can’t wait to embarrass the shit out of you to your future boyfriend”. 

Betty checked her phone. They had spent the past few hours just laughing at each other’s most cringe-worthy moments, and she was so distracted she hadn’t realized that she had missed calls and texts from Polly and Veronica, wondering if she was okay. 

Betty looked at Jughead, and then to the rest of the Serpents. “This has been fun boys, but I really should be getting home now”. 

“We’ll call an uber” Joaquin said, “Jones here can take you home”.

“Are you sure?” Betty asked.

“Of course, don’t even worry. You’re one cool chick, Cooper” Joaquin said, making Betty smile. Jughead too, happy that despite their differences, Betty could get along with his friends. He only hoped her friends would feel the same about him. 

Jughead gave Betty his jacket again as they were now walking outside into the cold.   
“So, I was thinking” he said, “since we were supposed to have our first date at Pop’s tomorrow, but we just spent all night there, maybe we could switch it up. How about a movie instead?” 

Betty nodded. “I think that’s a great idea”. 

“So, what does Betty Cooper turn to when she’s home sick in bed? Are you a horror girl? Strictly RomCom?” 

Betty bit her lip. She knew for sure Jughead was about to judge her for what she was about to say.   
“Okay, I really am into anything, but if I’m being honest, my favorite is Legally Blonde. And I know it’s cliche but that movie really is all about female empowerment and Elle Woods is a badass” Betty said.

Jughead looked at her. “I’ve never seen it”, he admitted. 

Betty’s mouth fell open. “It’s a classic!”

Jughead laughed. “Hardly! My favorite is Pulp Fiction, now that’s a classic! Quentin Tarantino is basically a film God”. 

It was Betty’s turn to be silent. “I’ve never seen it” she said, sheepishly. 

“Are you kidding me?!” Jughead said, getting into the car as Betty climbed into the passenger’s seat. “I thought you were into anything?”

“I am!” Betty said, defending herself. “I just never got around to that one. My friend Kevin and I never really understood the hype”. 

Jughead could honestly not believe his ears. “We are fixing this as soon as possible, Betty Cooper. How about we make a deal? I’ll watch Legally Blonde, if you watch Pulp Fiction”, he said, holding out his hand for her to shake.

Betty took it. “It’s a deal, Jughead Jones. Name the time and place”. 

“Tomorrow night? But, it can’t be at my place”, Jughead said quickly, not wanting to introduce Betty to his Southside life just yet. 

Betty bit her lip. She did that a lot, Jughead noticed. 

Betty’s parents would be out of town tomorrow for a journalism convention, and she knew Polly would leave if she asked her to. “My place” Betty said. “My parents won’t be home”. 

Jughead smiled at her. “Can’t wait” he said. 

***  
They pulled up to Betty’s house, both of them getting out of the car.   
“I would say you could walk me to my door” Betty said, “but I would rather not die tonight”.  
She took Jughead’s jacket off her shoulders, and he took it and slipped his arms through it. Betty was instantly cold, her entire body shivering. 

Jughead put his hands on her hips, and brought her closer. He put a hand on her neck, and bent down to kiss her, this time more urgently than their last kisses. She still tasted like strawberries, and he found himself wanting more. Betty moved her hands into his hair, stroking the back of his neck. She stepped even closer, their chests touching, Jughead’s hands skimming her arms down to her hips again, gripping them, only harder. Betty wasn’t cold anymore, as Jughead’s tongue found his way into her mouth. Betty didn’t know what to do. She never had a boy’s tongue in her mouth before. She was suddenly nervous she was doing everything wrong and she backed away, looking at him. 

“Jughead” she said, scared of what she was about to say. She didn’t want him to think of her as a kid who didn’t know what she was doing, but she wanted to be honest. “You were my first kiss, ever. You’re my first date, ever. I’ve never done any of this before”. 

Jughead pulled her into him again, hugging her close. Betty sighed as he ran his fingers through her hair. “It’s okay, Betty. I won’t do anything you don’t want to do” he said, looking down to meet her eyes as she looked up at him. “You call the shots, babe,”.

“Thank you” she said. Jughead kissed her cheek and let her go. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he said, “at 7?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Drive safe” Betty said, running into her house. 

Jughead drove home, finding Joaquin waiting on his front porch for his keys.

“Thanks for letting me use the car” Jughead said to him, tossing the keys.

“I meant what I said, Jones. That girl is one cool chick. Don’t fuck it up” he said, a huge grin on his face as moved out of the way before Jughead could playfully punch his arm. 

“Thanks for the confidence” Jughead said, smiling at his best friend. 

“You really like her, don’t you?” Joaquin asked him. 

“Honestly DeSantos, I’ve never clicked with someone the way I have with her. She just makes it so easy” Jughead said, his mind drifting to Betty’s adorable hesitation when he put his tongue in her mouth. He had kissed other girls, but kissing Betty made it feel brand new, and for her it was. 

“Just be careful, Jones. If Topaz finds out about her, who knows what she’ll do”.

“I know” Jughead said. “I’m keeping Betty away from the Southside as long as possible. Which means I’ll be spending a lot of time on the Northside, but I can handle myself”. 

Joaquin nodded. “I know you can. Alright, it’s late as fuck. I’m heading home. Catch you later, Jones”. 

Jughead said bye and walked groggily to his room, excited for sleep, and for his date with Betty Cooper tomorrow. 

***  
Betty was pacing in her living room. It was 6:55, and she was so incredibly nervous. She had never had a boy in her house before. She didn’t even know what she should wear, but after spending an hour on the phone with Veronica, Betty opted for jeans, a white tank top and mustard yellow cardigan, wanting to be comfortable but also cute. Her hair was still in a ponytail, and she took time to apply eyeliner and mascara, also painting her lips pink. Jughead had seen her crying and blotchy, so it really couldn’t get any worse than that.   
She decided to go back to the kitchen where she had an assortment of snacks lined up neatly in a row. She didn’t know what Jughead liked so she picked up chips and popcorn in case he wanted salty, but she also had cookies and chocolate ice cream if he wanted sweet. She also bought chocolate covered pretzels in case he liked salty and sweet together. She figured they could order pizza, so she also had some sodas and take out menus ready. After looking everything over and deciding everything was perfect, she went to the bathroom to check her reflection one last time. She was tightening her ponytail when she heard a knock at the door. 

She walked over, taking a deep breath before putting her hand on the knob to pull it open. The first thing she saw was a bouquet of red and pink roses, and then Jughead lowered them from his face, uncovering his breathtaking smile. 

Betty gasped. “Jughead, they’re beautiful. Thank you” she said, stepping up on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek. 

“You look great” he said, taking in Betty’s outfit. This girl could make a garbage bag look good, he thought. 

“Aw, thank you” Betty said, instantly blushing. “You look good too”. And he did look good. Sooo good, Betty thought, loving the way his black S shirt and leather jacket made the blue in his eyes stand out even more. 

Betty grabbed the flowers and walked towards the kitchen as Jughead followed. 

“It’s still just us tonight, right?” Jughead asked. 

“Of course” Betty said, grabbing a vase and filling it up with water for the roses. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you have enough food here to feed all of the Serpents” Jughead said with a laugh.

Betty blushed. “Well, I didn’t know what kind of snacks you liked. I wanted to have a little bit of everything”.

“Oh, I’m not complaining, Betty. Like I said, I’m always hungry”

“Good”, Betty said. Because if my mother finds out I bought all this junk food for me, she’ll starve me for the rest of the week. So you have to eat all of the evidence”. 

“That won’t be a problem” Jughead said, immediately dipping his hands into some chips. 

***

They were sitting on the couch, Jughead’s arm draped around Betty as she cuddled into his chest, her feet to her side. Jughead had a bowl of popcorn in his lap that he was eating with his other hand. Jughead had already finished the pizza, Betty being full after two slices. He ate the chips, pretzels, drank two sodas, and was now snacking on popcorn. To say Betty was shocked, was an understatement. 

They had finished watching Legally Blonde, and much to Betty’s surprise Jughead actually laughed as Elle Woods performed her infamous “bend and snap” and seemed to enjoy the movie. At the end, he said he saw why Betty liked it, and also appreciated the film from a feminist standpoint. Betty was surprised to learn that Jughead kept up with politics and the news, but he told her that he ran the Red and Black at Southside High so he’s always reading other journalists’ work, trying to improve. They bonded over their love for journalism and finding the truth, both beaming over the fact that they had so much in common. 

They were now watching Pulp Fiction, and Betty wasn’t completely sold on it just yet but she was starting to see why people talked about it so much. John Travolta and Uma Thurman were eating dinner in a car, and Uma Thurman just popped a cherry in her mouth from her milkshake, awakening a question in Betty’s mind. 

“Jughead?” Betty said, almost a whisper. 

“Yeah?” he answered, eyes not moving from the screen as if he were watching it for the first time. 

“Can you tie a knot with a cherry stem?”

“Of course” Jughead said, “can’t you?”

Betty shrugged, her cheeks immediately turning pink. “I’ve never tried”. 

Jughead had a thought then, one that might give Betty a little more confidence about kissing. He paused the movie, stood up from the couch, and grabbed her hand, pulling her up too.

“Jughead, what are you doing?” Betty asked curiously, as she saw him open her fridge looking through the drawers. “Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” 

“AHA” Jughead said triumphantly, pulling out a bag of cherries and ripping off two stems.   
“Here’s your chance, Betty Cooper”, he said as he handed her a stem with a wink. 

Betty took it, and popped it in her mouth. Jughead did the same. Betty worried how humiliating it would be if she couldn’t do it, but then decided that she didn’t care. She was having fun with Jughead, and he wouldn’t care if she couldn’t do it. 

Jughead finished first, of course. A perfect knot sitting at the tip of his tongue as he stuck it out to Betty. It was a lot harder than Betty would have thought, but her competitive side was taking over. After about thirty more seconds, Betty stuck her tongue out, also revealing a knot. Jughead’s eyes went wide. 

“Dith I do ith?” Betty asked, her tongue still out. 

“You’re a natural, Betty Cooper” Jughead said laughing, his blue eyes turning darker at the sight of the knot. 

Betty took the knot off the tongue as she saw the fire begin to ignite in his eyes. “Can I try the real thing?” Betty asked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

Jughead’s hands were on her then, cupping her face as he kissed her deeply. Betty responded by gripping on his shirt, and when their tongues met, Betty actually participating thanks to her newfound talent, a groan escaped her lips that made Jughead go wild. He picked her up and she squealed laughing, as Jughead placed her on the counter and moved in between her legs. They were both smiling in between kisses, and Betty draped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.   
Jughead moved his lips from her mouth, kissing up her neck to her jaw, her cheek, breathing into her ear as he bit her earlobe. She sighed in content. 

“Let me try” she said, looking into Jughead’s eyes. He just nodded. This time, it was Betty kissing a trail from his neck to his ear, and when Jughead felt her hot breath in his ear right before she grazed her teeth on his skin, he let out a groan, and he moved his hands to Betty’s hips, pulling her closer. Betty wasn’t self-conscious anymore. She felt like she could sit on her counter and kiss Jughead forever if he would let her. He pulled off her cardigan, exposing her arms, kissing her collarbone as he pressed himself closer to her. Betty’s eyes were closed, enjoying every moment, when she suddenly felt something hard between her legs. Her eyes snapped open as she realized what it was. 

She put her arms on Jughead’s shoulders, nudging him off her as she looked down to see Jughead’s erection beneath his jeans. Jughead immediately stepped back, not wanting to push her too far. 

Their gazes met, both slightly out of breath from the hot makeout session that just took place. As much as she enjoyed it, and as much as she was beginning to feel warm all over her body, Betty wasn’t ready for THAT just quite yet. Betty looked down, afraid to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry” Betty said, “can we stop, please?”

Jughead lifted her chin, wanting to make sure she understood. “Never apologize, Betty. You did nothing wrong”. 

Betty hopped of the counter and walked into his arms. “Thank you, Juggie”. 

“Juggie?” 

“Is that okay?” Betty asked.

“Yes” Jughead said, “it’s just, no one has ever called me that before”, he looked down at her, and kissed her forehead. “You can call me anything you want, Betts”. 

It was Betty’s turn to be confused. “Betts?”

“Well if I have a nickname, I think it’s only fair that you do too”. 

“Betts and Juggie” Betty said, “I like the sound of that”. 

Jughead immediately felt happiness. Never in a million years did he think he would find a girl as smart, kind, genuine, and beautiful as Betty Cooper, and be able to hold her in his arms. In this moment, he wasn’t the kid whose mom left him, he wasn’t the Serpent prince, he wasn’t Jughead Jones. He was Juggie. He wasn’t sure how he could ever thank Betty Cooper for giving him a place to just be. So he hugged her close, and whispered, “I like the sound of that too”.


	7. Defending the Southside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty publishes an article in the Blue and Gold defending the Southside Serpents. Jughead worries for her safety.

Jughead knew the peace he felt was too good to be true. His cell phone rang then, and he let go of Betty to see who was calling. It was Joaquin, who knew Jughead was on a date with Betty so it would have to be important for him to be calling. 

“What’s up, DeSantos?” Jughead answered, getting straight to the point. 

“Look Jones, I know you’re probably sucking face with Cooper right now but I need you to come to the Wyrm. Now. Blossom is here...and well, I just need you to get here, okay? Your dad isn’t around”. 

Jughead closed his eyes and sighed. His dad was probably passed out drunk on the couch, once again leaving Jughead in charge of Serpent business. He looked at Betty and stroked her cheek, a small smile creeping onto her lips. This was the last thing Jughead wanted to do right now, another curse of being the Serpent prince. 

“I’ll be there in 20”, Jughead told Joaquin, and then hung up the call. 

“Listen Betts, I’m really sorry, but I have to go. Something came up with Joaquin and he needs my help”. 

Betty’s naturally giving personality shone through as she asked Jughead a million questions. “Is he okay? Can I help? Do you need me to go with you? Is it his car?” 

Jughead smirked, “What do you know about cars?” 

“More than you, probably” Betty replied, a playful smile taking over her face. “My dad and I fix cars together” 

Jughead walked over and hugged her again, “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any hotter” he said with a growl. 

Betty giggled, and it made Jughead’s heart ache. She deserved better than someone leaving her hanging. He was scared this is how it would have to be. Him having stolen moments with Betty, trying to keep her away from the dangers of the Southside. Him always leaving. 

But then Betty cupped his face, and kissed his lips so tenderly, as if she could read his mind. “It’s okay, Juggie. I’ll see you later”. 

Jughead kissed her one last time, before taking out his phone to get an uber. 

“Are you sure I can’t just drive you?” Betty said. 

“No” Jughead said quickly, a little too quickly, making Betty confused. “It’s really okay”. 

He walked over and kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you soon, Betts”. 

***  
Jughead arrived at the Whyte Wyrm, and he saw Joaquin and Jason standing outside, arguing. 

“Alright, Blossom. What’s the deal?” Jughead asked. 

“I need some Jingle Jangle” Jason said. 

“Serpents don’t touch that shit” Jughead spat at him. 

“What are you talking about?” Jason asked, confused. “You guys are always dealing weed out of here, and Reggie told me his dealer was in a gang from the Southside. Ghoulies or some shit”. 

“You got the wrong place, Blossom. Serpents and Ghoulies don’t mix. But, I wouldn’t go looking for them. They’re not as forgiving as we are when it comes to late payments, and their supply costs a lot more than what we charge” Jughead explained. 

“Thanks for the info. Catch you later, Jones” Jason said, walking away.

Jughead put his arm on Jason’s shoulder, stopping him. “This isn’t a fucking joke, Blossom. The Ghoulies are dangerous, and Jingle Jangle isn’t something to fuck with either. That shit messes you up”. 

“Get off me” Jason said, shrugging out Jughead’s grip. “Your boy over there already tried to talk to me out of it, and he said you could help me. Turns out he was lying” he shot daggers over to Joaquin. 

“We’re trying to help you, Blossom. Despite you calling us thugs and treating us like shit for years, we’re not the ruthless, apathetic snakes you made us out to be. What Jughead said is true. Don’t ignore the warning” Joaquin said. 

“Consider me warned” Jason said, then began walking to his car. 

Jughead turned to Joaquin then. 

“Look, I’m sorry I fucked up your date, but he wasn’t listening to me, and I wasn’t about to let him wander into Ghoulies territory and get killed or something. Even if he is an asshole” Joaquin rambled. 

“It’s okay, DeSantos. We did all we could do. If Blossom is stupid enough to go in there alone, then that’s on him. No way in hell am I risking getting shot over Blossom” Jughead said. The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had a feeling Jason wouldn’t listen to him, but everyone knew Blossom was loaded so he could probably afford the Jingle Jangle and he wouldn’t have any problems. It would be fine. At least, Jughead hoped it would. 

***   
That next Sunday, Betty spent the entire day writing her article for the Blue and Gold and texting Jughead. Hanging out with Jughead and his friends had really opened her eyes to the fact that all of the Southside wasn’t as bad as people thought. More people needed to know this. 

Her and Jughead talked about their favorite books, favorite tv shows, favorite music, favorite everything. Betty opened up about all of her guilty pleasures, even her secret obsession with One Direction, and actually laughed out loud when Jughead admitted to liking some of their songs. Jughead’s music taste wasn’t quite so modern, growing up listening to FP’s favorites. He was more of a fan of Queen, The Clash, AC/DC, Led Zepplin, etc, but he appreciated a good pop song every now and then. His sister JellyBean may listen to Pink Floyd on vinyl but even she was not free from Justin Bieber’s spell, so Jughead knew more pop songs than he would care to admit. Betty told Jughead her current obsession was a band called LANY and Jughead promised he would give them a listen. 

On Monday morning, Betty published her article. She stopped in the Blue and Gold office before first period, happy to see that the hard copies had been delivered. The online version would be up any minute. Betty smiled at her work, proud of herself for trying to make a difference. The first bell rang, and she ran to class. 

By lunch, everyone was talking about Betty’s article. Archie came to the table, slamming a copy down in front of Betty, making Veronica and Betty jump.

“Are you kidding me with this, Betty? You’re actually defending thugs? If you wanna date one, fine, but don’t act like they’re not criminals” Archie said.

“Archiekins”, Veronica said as she pulled him down to sit next to her. “You need to calm down”.

“Calling them thugs and criminals does nothing to help, Arch. Jughead and Joaquin aren’t like that, so I’m willing to bet not everyone in Southside is a cold- hearted criminal. I just think people need to learn to give others a chance” Betty explained. She tried to remain calm, knowing if her temper matched Archie’s, things would get worse.

“You’re on your own with that, Betty. I wouldn’t be caught dead in the Southside”.

“No one is asking you to go there, Arch! I’m just asking you to be a little more open minded, that’s all!” Betty was close to tears now, her frustration rising. “You’ve been my best friend for years, you know me. I wouldn’t do anything I wasn’t sure about, so trust me when I say that Jughead is different. They’re not all bad”.

“I just…” Archie paused, not wanting to hurt Betty’s feelings, but wanting to be honest. “I just think you could do better than a Serpent”, he said, finally meeting her eyes.

Betty could feel her anger rising. Jughead was the first boy to ever notice her, to make her feel beautiful, and not just on the outside. When he complimented her, it hadn’t been about her looks or her extra curriculars. He saw something that no one had seen before, and she wasn’t about to let Archie ruin that for her.

Betty took a deep breath, trying to remain calm.

“I appreciate your concern, Arch, but I wish people would stop judging others before they even get to know them. What if someone wrote you off because of the varsity jacket you wear? Saying that you were just an airhead jock, and a total fuckboy? It would sting, right?”

“But it’s different, Betty! It’s not like I’m dealing drugs!” Archie said, defending himself.

“No, but you’ll do them right? I know all about the football team’s rituals, so please, Arch, hop off your soap box”. Betty said, a hard edge to her voice.

Archie had never seen Betty like this before. He didn’t like it. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt”. 

“I can take care of myself, Archie. I’ve been doing it for months now” Betty said, packing up her lunch and leaving the table. She tossed her lunch into the garbage before heading to the bathroom. She looked down at her hands. She hadn’t even realized she was clenching them, her crescent scars now spilling fresh blood. She quickly turned on the faucet, the cold water soothing the sting. 

Betty started crying. Archie had been her neighbor and best friend her whole life, and he was trying to ruin the one thing that made Betty feel good, happy, and whole. She quickly wiped her tears from her cheeks as she heard the bell and rushed to class. No way in hell was she letting anyone make her feel bad about her relationship with Jughead. 

***  
Polly could tell that Betty was upset at practice, so the two sisters decided to go to Pop’s for dinner, where Betty poured her heart out to her sister about Jughead, her article, and her fight with Archie over a vanilla milkshake. 

“Boys are stupid” Polly said. “I wish I could tell you differently, but they all do stupid things. Archie is just mad, and probably jealous”. 

“Why would he be jealous? He has Veronica” Betty said, confused. 

“Yes, but I think he just assumed that he would always have you. That he could do whatever he wanted, but at the end of the day, Betty Cooper would always be by his side, because you always have been”, Polly said. 

“Not this time, Pol. He’s just wrong. People are so wrong about the Serpents. People need to know the truth” Betty sighed, beyond frustrated. 

“People do know about the Serpents” a voice said from behind Betty. She didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. 

“People know that the Serpents are a virus infecting this town with their drugs and violence. Daddy says they’re thugs who have done nothing but tarnish this town, and who just keep bringing more fucked up, trash into the world” Cheryl said. “Just because you’re dating the Serpent prince doesn’t change any of that”. 

“How the hell do you know about Jughead?” Betty asked. 

“Oh please, Betty. My minions are everywhere. Someone saw him put his jacket around you and take you home after you left Chuck’s party crying like a baby” Cheryl said. 

“Back off, Cheryl” Polly said. “Leave my sister alone”. 

“Gladly”, Cheryl said, “as long as she stops trying to change the social order around here. Serpents are shit, always have been, always will be. They’re at the bottom of the food chain. And you know what, Betty? It’s actually perfect you’re dating one. Because you are too” and with that Cheryl walked away. 

“Don’t listen to her” Polly said. “I know I said to be careful, but I am so proud of you for writing that article. People like Cheryl will come around eventually” she said as she rubbed Betty’s back. 

“You’re right, Polly. But sometimes people need a little push, and I’m going to be that push”. 

“That’s the girl I know and love” Polly said. 

The girls paid for their food and headed home, completely oblivious that a pink haired Serpent had been sitting in the booth behind them. Her jacket was off and next to her on the booth, so Polly and Betty never would have known she was a Serpent, and Toni Topaz was fuming at the news that Jughead had a new girl. And not just any girl, but the same preppy, blonde northsider she had caught him staring at. For Toni, a war had just begun. 

***  
That night, Betty got a text from Jughead. 

Jughead: Meet me outside? 

Betty looked out her window to see Jughead standing across the street, looking up at her. She opened her bedroom door. Her parents were asleep. So she quietly crept past their room, down the stairs, and out the front door, throwing on a jacket over her pyjama top and shorts. 

“Hey there, gorgeous” Jughead said, his arms wrapping around her instantly as she ran into him. 

“What are you doing here?” Betty asked, giving him a quick peck on the lips. 

“I read your article”, Jughead said. 

“How did you even know I posted one?”

“ I may or may not have been on the Blue and Gold’s website...reading your work…” he trailed off. 

“Aw, Juggie. You did research? “

“Yeah, yeah”. Jughead tried to play it off. “Anyway, it was wonderfully written and I really appreciate everything you’re doing for us, but you didn’t have to do that. I don’t want the town coming at you with pitchforks for defending us, or worse”.

Betty bit her lip. Jughead saw the hesitation in her eyes, knowing she was hiding something. 

“People have already said something, haven’t they?” he asked her quietly. 

“It’s nothing I can’t handle, Juggie. I promise” she said, looking into his eyes. 

“Betts…” Jughead said, “who was it?” 

“Like I said, Juggie, it’s nothing I can’t handle” she said. She stepped back, pulling her sleeves down so he wouldn’t see her scars. 

“If it happens again, tell me, okay?” Jughead said, pulling her close again. “I have no doubt you can handle it, but you shouldn’t have to. That’s what I’m here for”. He kissed her forehead. 

Betty sighed. Jughead smelled like nicotine and cologne, and his scent was taking over her senses. Here, pressed up against his chest, even though the night air was chilly, she had never felt warmer and safer. She looked up at him, her eyes landing on his lips and Jughead smirked, reading her mind.   
He kissed her lips, then kissed her forehead. 

“How did you even get here?” Betty asked. 

“My motorcycle. I parked it a block over because I didn’t want to wake your parents”. 

“Always the gentleman, Juggie. I didn’t know you had a motorcycle” Betty giggled.

“DeSantos usually drives so I don’t use it much. I’ll give you a ride sometime” he said with a wink, letting her go and watching her walking away. She was walking backwards until she reached the stairs. Jughead’s eyes scanned her up and down, from her messy bun to her long legs barely covered by her pyjamas. He thought there was no way he could get used to how beautiful she was, even right before bed. She waved before she turned around. He made sure she got inside her house before turning to walk to his bike, smiling the whole way home.


	8. War on Drugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jingle Jangle is becoming more prominent in Riverdale, Jughead tries to help his dad keep the peace. 
> 
> A/N: these last two chapters were short but I felt they flowed better separately than adding one huge giant chapter. I've had some more time to write lately so more chapters will be coming soon. All of the comments and kudos mean so much, thank you to everyone who is still reading! Enjoy the fluff and angst!

For the rest of the week, Betty’s article was still the talk of the town. The whispers and stares continued, adding to the white noise going on in Betty’s head. Her mother of course was not too pleased, giving Betty an earful almost every night about how she was an embarrassment to the family. She was getting better at fighting off the numb, dark feelings but they were always there, waiting for their chance break through. 

When Jughead asked how she was doing, she told him everything except about the drama surrounding her article. They made plans to hang out Friday night at Pop’s, and that was the only thing keeping Betty going. Truth be told, Betty was exhausted. She was working on overdrive trying to be “perfect Betty Cooper” again after the article incident, not letting her composure slip ever. Vixens practices were longer and harder as they prepared for their halftime show for the playoff games. Her classes were now in full swing, and she was up until ungodly hours trying to get all of her homework done, while also editing the Blue and Gold.

Betty was sitting at a booth in Pop’s, waiting for Jughead that Friday night in her vixens uniform when her least favorite person slid into to the booth beside her. 

“Hey there, Cooper” Chuck said. 

Betty was not in the mood. “What do you want, Chuck?” 

“Well, you’re sitting here all by yourself, why don’t you let me buy you dinner?” he asked. 

“I’m meeting someone, no thank you” Betty simply said, hoping Chuck would just leave. She really didn’t have the energy for another fight right now. 

“You’ll date a Serpent over me?” Chuck said, nothing but venom in his voice. 

“Yes”, Betty said, “because if I had to pick who was more of a snake, you’d win. Hands down” the venom her voice matching Chuck’s. 

“Guess the rumors are true” Chuck said, “you really are a Serpent slut”. And it wasn’t what he said, but how he looked at her when he said it. Like Betty Cooper was nothing more than the dirt on the bottom of his shoe, and if it had been anyone besides Chuck Clayton, she might have been hurt. But instead, she was angry. A fire burning behind her green eyes. 

“Get the hell away from me Chuck, before I kill you” Betty said, her fists clenching underneath the booth. 

“Whatever you say, crazy Cooper” Chuck said. 

Betty ran out of Pop’s, hating herself for letting Chuck Clayton run her out of another building. But this time, it was worse. The darkness that had been suppressed for awhile was now coming back, like two hands around her neck, keeping her from getting air. As soon as she stepped outside, she gasped for air, the tears she had been hiding falling freely down her face. She wiped her palms on the grass, she would clean them later. She stood up, pacing by a tree, trying to calm down. She had to be strong. She couldn’t let Chuck control her like this. 

She could feel it. She was growing numb. Her darkness threatening to take over again. She closed her eyes, and tried to think of things that made her feel good, alive. She thought about dancing for the vixens at the first football game, about laughing with Veronica in the locker room, about Polly rubbing her back and sticking up for her. She thought about Jughead. His lips on hers, his arms around her, his now familiar smell clouding her senses. She thought about their first kiss, tying a cherry stem, about how he made her feel safe. She opened her eyes, and her thoughts had been answered. Jughead was walking towards her, worry etched into his face as he saw Betty crying outside of Pop’s. 

Jughead could tell something was wrong. Her eyes were darker, as if she hadn’t slept. Her uniform was a little sloppy, and her usually perfect ponytail was messy. She was so close to breaking, and again, no one was noticing. No one except Jughead. 

“Betts…” was all he said, but his tone conveyed so much more. Betty saw his eyes looking right through her. It was like he told her the first time he saw her cry. He saw her, he really saw her. Betty didn’t have to pretend to be anyone when she was with Jughead. Him saying her name was an invitation to let her walls down, to let him in. Betty took it. 

“God, Juggie” she said, breathing in his scent as if she was drowning and had just come up for air. “I just missed you”. 

“I missed you too, Betts. So damn much” Jughead said, hugging her tighter. “What’s wrong?” 

“I just...I wish everything would just stop. Just for a little while, you know? I want to go to a place where I’m not ‘perfect Betty Cooper’. A place where no one wants anything from me. I’m just so tired, Juggie” she said, her exhaustion becoming so overwhelming she had more tears in her eyes. 

“Shhh, it’s okay, Betts. Please don’t cry. What can I do? Is there anything I can do?” Jughead pleaded. 

“You’re already doing it”, Betty sighed, cupping his face. 

Jughead turned his face to kiss her hand, and that’s when he saw her scars, his expression changing immediately. He grabbed her hand before Betty had the chance to hide them again. She looked down in shame. No one knew about this, about how weak she was, and Jughead was the last person she wanted to find out. 

“Betts...please tell me you hurt yourself on accident. That you don’t do this to yourself?” he said, his voice breaking. God, she deserved so much better than this. She deserved to feel beautiful and confident, always. 

She was crying now. “I’m sorry, Juggie. But, it helps. Chuck was right, I’m fucking crazy. I feel like I’m choking on my own fear and anger sometimes, and the only way to bring me back down is to do this. I know it doesn’t make sense, but everyone is always staring and talking and judging and I try so hard to keep it together, to be who they want me to be, and even when I try to do something nice it gets thrown in my face and I get called a Serpent slut”, she was out of breath from her mini monologue.

“Whoa whoa whoa” Jughead said, “who the hell is this Chuck? Did he call you that?”, furious that anyone would ever disrespect Betty like that. 

Betty’s eyes gave her away, her hand flying to her mouth as she realized she said too much. She knew Jughead would never let it go now. 

“People have been talking. They look at me like I did the worst thing possible by writing that article. Most people are okay with it, I’ve gotten a lot of good responses to it on the website, but in person, people are different. They whisper and stare and call me names…” Betty explained, trailing off. 

“Are you fucking serious? Fucking people” Jughead said, backing away from Betty, his anger rising. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. 

“Because it’s not your problem. I meant every word I said in that article, and I don’t care what happens to me” Betty said. 

“But I care” Jughead said, walking towards her, and holding her face in his hands. “I care about you, Betty. I care what happens to you. Please, let me help you” his ocean blue eyes boring into her soft green ones. “Fuck what anyone else says. Betts...you’re so much more than this stupid town. You are incredibly smart, and you pour kindness and strength into everything you do. I still can’t believe that no one sees what I see. Because I see a girl, who has an old soul, a heart of gold, and a smile brighter than the sun. You are a beautiful light in my life, Betty Cooper. The stars to my very dark night. You are so much stronger than this, and bigger than all of this. I promise you will make it through this”. 

Betty was sobbing then, as Jughead held her close and let her stain his shirt with her salty tears. “Thank you, Juggie” she finally breathed, calming down.

“Come on” Jughead said, “I’ll buy you a milkshake” happy to see Betty smiling again. He was worried about the scars on her hands, but decided now was not the best time to bring that up. 

They walked in the diner and found Polly and Jason in a booth, Polly holding ice to Jason’s eye, they must have sneaked past Jughead and Betty’s conversation on the side of Pop’s. 

“Oh my God, Jason” Betty gasped, “what happened?”

“Fight after the football game. Got hit in the eye” Jason answered, refusing to look at Jughead. 

“Yeah, I heard the other team are some pretty rough dudes. You’re lucky that’s all you got” Jughead said, knowing Jason would understand the true meaning of his words. Jughead wasn’t stupid. He knew how Jason really got that black eye. He was willing to bet Jason had bruises other places too. 

“Yeah, well. Someone’s gotta take one for the team” Jason replied, finally looking at Jughead, his eyes pleading with him to shut up. 

Jughead’s phone vibrated. A text from his dad asking where he was. Fuck, Jughead thought. He forgot he and Joaquin had to sit in on a Serpent meeting tonight. 

“Hey, I’m sorry guys, but I have to go” Jughead said, looking to Betty. 

“Again?” Betty asked, making a pout with her lips. “Is everything okay?” 

“Of course” Jughead said, “just forgot I need to help my dad with something” which wasn’t a complete lie. Sooner or later he would have to tell Betty about the details of his Serpent life, it was getting harder to keep them both straight, and he was leaving her again. 

Jughead gave Betty a quick kiss, before saying goodbye. Betty watched him leave, as he ran to Joaquin’s car, laughing at the fact that they knew each other so well, Jughead didn’t even have to call him. 

***  
“Fuck” Jughead said, as Joaquin drove him to the Southside. 

“I know” Joaquin said, “hopefully this shit will be quick”. 

They arrived at the Whyte Wyrm, and every Serpent was inside. Jughead made eye contact with Toni, but quickly looked away. He hadn’t spoken to her since that night on his front porch. Thankfully, his father got everyone’s attention then. 

“We have a problem ladies and gents” FP said. Jughead thankful that he was at least sober right now. His eyes were still bloodshot and he hadn’t shaved in days, but he looked presentable enough to FP’s standards to be able to hold a meeting. 

“Jingle Jangle has made it’s way to the Northside, and the Serpents are taking the heat for it. I have it on good authority that McCoy is raiding Southside High on Monday, so you young ones better keep your weed at home”. The teenage Serpents all nodded. 

“We are not going down for the Ghoulies and their bullshit. That means we’re gonna have to lay low on dealing for awhile” FP explained. 

“That’s your plan?” Tall Boy, another Serpent asked. “Just wait it out? For how long? Our day jobs don’t pay all that much, and you know it FP”. 

“I do”, FP said, still calm even though he was being challenged. “Which is why now more than ever, we need to stick together. Help each other out, until this Jingle Jangle mess dies down. If Northsiders want to poison themselves that’s fine, but we need to take care of our own right now”. 

“We could expose the Ghoulies” Tall Boy said, gaining a few cheers from the crowd. Jughead looked to his father. Usually what he says, goes. He understood that some of these Serpents relied on the business to make money, but he also knew that attacking the Ghoulies would be even more stupid. FP knew it too. 

“We’ve kept the peace with the Ghoulies this long, it would do more harm than good to try and attack now, especially with the Mayor being more involved with trying to get rid of Jingle Jangle. I don’t want anyone being thrown in jail for dealing weed, and then some story getting spun that the Serpents are involved with that mess. People can think what they want, but for now they have no proof. Let’s not give them any” FP said, his voice rising. His tone turned more serious. 

“This might hurt your pride to admit it, but the Ghoulies are dangerous and reckless. Violence is their first instinct, and I am trying to avoid bloodshed at all costs. So, I want everyone to steer clear of the Ghoulies and lay low for a while. We’ll get through this, because in unity there is strength” FP said. 

“In unity there is strength” Jughead and all of the other Serpents repeated, clapping for their leader once again. Jughead was proud of his father in that moment, and even though he sometimes hated the life he chose for him and Jughead, Jughead couldn’t help but think that FP was born to be a leader. He would do what he could to help his dad out in this, starting with Jason Blossom. 

He looked to Joaquin after the meeting was over, both knowing they needed to go back to Jason. They were walking out of the bar when a voice stopped them. 

“Running back to your barbie doll?” Toni said. 

Jughead turned around. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Jughead said, refusing to give her the satisfaction. Toni was probably vying for information from rumors she’s heard, and Jughead wasn’t about to give her any more. 

“Oh, sorry. I’ll be more more specific” Toni said. “Running back to Betty?”.   
Jughead froze. “I know all about your little Northside romance”. 

“Your point, Topaz?” Jughead asked. 

“I wanted to say I’m sorry, for overreacting that day at your trailer”. 

Jughead was skeptical. “Just like that?” Jughead asked. “You’ve spent months not being over this and you’re just ready to let it all go?”

“I heard her talking to her sister, and the girl really likes you. I was scared if you fell for a northsider she would just use you and toss you, to get her bad boy fix, but she cares about you. I do too. So if you’re happy Jones, I’m happy for you”. 

Jughead still looked at her. She seemed sincere enough. “If you’re serious Topaz, thank you”. 

“Of course. Fangs and Sweetpea won’t shut up about how fun the northsiders are. It might be good to be on their side right now too”. 

That was a good point, Jughead thought. If the Serpents could show the Northsiders that they weren’t dealing Jingle Jangle, maybe the war on drugs would end sooner and the Serpents could stop laying low. And he wouldn’t have to keep leaving Betty if they could all get along, he wouldn’t have to try to balance so much anymore. 

“Not a bad plan, Topaz” Joaquin agreed, on the same wavelength as Jughead as usual. 

“Yeah well, new leaf and all that bullshit” Toni laughed. 

“Catch you later then, Topaz” Jughead said, him and Joaquin leaving. 

Toni smiled to herself. They bought it. Phase one of her plan was complete.


	9. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost everyone has a secret to share in Riverdale.

After Jughead left Pop’s, Betty, Polly, and Jason didn’t stay much longer. They all went back to the Cooper’s house where Betty retreated to her room, wondering if Jughead was okay. He had been so sweet to her tonight, but even through all her own drama she could tell that something was off with him. She took her headphones off, pausing her music to go downstairs and get a glass of water. All that crying had made her dehydrated. She was walking down the stairs but stopped halfway when she heard Polly and Jason whisper arguing. 

“Look Polly, I know I messed up, but it’s good money. I sold to some dudes who just haven’t paid me back yet, but they promised they would pay me soon” Jason quickly explained. 

“At what cost though, Jason? Look at your eye! Can’t you ask your dad for a loan or something?” Polly asked. 

“Are you kidding?! If my father knew I was selling drugs he would kill me. That is my absolute last option” Jason said. 

“But it’s not fair, Jason. If these other guys are the ones delaying the payment why are you the one coming home with bruised ribs and a black eye?” 

“Because I’m the face. I’m the one dealing.” Jason said. 

“Do you really need the money that badly?” Polly asked

“My father doesn’t want me to go to college. He wants me to take over the family business. But I couldn’t care less about some stupid maple syrup family legacy. That’s not the life I want. I can get scholarships for football, but it still won’t be enough, not enough for USC. Not enough for our plans”. 

Polly sighed. “Just please be careful. You getting hurt is also not part of our plans. Get the money, and then promise me you’ll quit. Okay?” 

“I promise” Jason said. “I love you”. 

“I love you too” Polly said. 

Betty smiled, but also worried for her sister. Jason was selling drugs? How much could he possibly owe to warrant a beating? Was it the Serpents? Did Jughead know about this? Betty forgot about the water and quietly walked back into her room. She picked up her phone and dialed Jughead. 

He answered after the second ring. “Hey, how’s my girl doing?” Jughead said. 

If it was any other time, Betty would be swooning over the fact that Jughead called her his girl, but for right now, she needed answers. 

“Did you know Jason was dealing drugs?” Betty asked. 

“Fuck…” Jughead said, “no, I didn’t know he was dealing. But I had a feeling he was buying. Blossom’s a real fucking idiot”. 

“What do you mean you had a feeling? He’s not dealing for you?” Betty asked. 

“Of course not!” Jughead said. “Look Betts, there’s a lot you don’t know about the Southside. The Serpents aren’t the only gang dealing. I promise I’ll explain everything, but first, is Jason with you now?”

“He is, but he doesn’t know I know this. I was sort of eavesdropping on him and Polly” Betty admitted. 

“DeSantos and I need to talk to him. Can we come over?” Jughead asked. 

“I mean, I guess we can all talk outside. He and Polly are still downstairs”.

“Keep them there, please. I’ll see you soon” Jughead said, ending the call. 

***  
Twenty minutes later, Jughead and Joaquin showed up at Betty’s door. Betty asked Jason and Polly to come outside with her, telling them she needed to talk but didn’t want to risk her parents hearing them. 

“What the hell are you doing here, Jones?” Jason asked. 

“What’s going on, Betty?” asked Polly.

“I heard you guys talking, and I called Jughead to ask if Jason was dealing for him” Betty explained. “Jughead said he needed to talk to you”. 

“Real fuckin nice, Betty” Jason snarled. This pissed off Jughead. None of this had anything to do with Betty, and no one was gonna talk to his girl like that. 

“Hey”, Jughead said, “Don’t take this out on her. She’s actually helping you out. The Mayor knows about the Jingle Jangle being sold on the Northside. She thinks it’s the Serpents, so she’s raiding Southside on Monday. If she finds out about the Ghoulies, and it gets back to you…” Jughead said

“FUCK” Jason yelled, startling an already on edge Polly. 

“Why the hell are you even dealing, Blossom? You’re the maple syrup king”, Jughead asked. 

“Wrong, Jones. That’s my father. And it’s none of your business. I did what I did, and that’s the end of it” Jason said. The whole world didn’t need to know he hated his family. 

“The point is” Joaquin interjected, “The Serpents refuse to go down for this. We would appreciate if you wouldn’t contact the Ghoulies right now”. 

“Fine by me” Jason said. “I still owe them some money”. 

“I figured as much” Jughead said, pointing to his eye.

Betty’s mouth fell open. She had no idea the people closest to her were involved in something so dangerous. 

“So wait” Betty said, “if Jason isn’t dealing weed for the Serpents, what is he dealing?”

“Jingle Jangle” Jason answered. “Everyone at school loves it. I got it from the Ghoulies”.

“Jingle Jangle? The Ghoulies?” Betty laughed. 

“It’s no laughing matter, Betts. He’s telling the truth” Jughead said to her. “The Ghoulies are the violent, hard drug dealers plaguing the Southside. The Serpents have just always been a scapegoat”. 

“And you just let them?” Betty asked. “Why not expose them? Tell the truth?” 

“It’s not that simple, Betty” Joaquin said. “They have guns, and zero remorse for their actions. Attacking them means we would probably lose. So we wait it out”.

“But the town hates you! They think it’s you! That’s not okay!” Betty said. “How do you just live with that?” 

“Because it keeps us safe” Jughead said, walking towards her. “I know what you’re thinking Betts, and I am begging you. This time, stay out of it. No more articles. Not a word to anyone. My father...My father is the leader of the Serpents and he gave us strict orders about all of this. Promise me” Jughead said, looking directly into her eyes, scared that she wouldn’t look at him the same way. Being in a gang was one thing, but being the son of the leader? He was scared of what she would think. He also knew that it was unlikely for her to let this go, but for her safety, he needed her to. He had to make her understand. 

Betty stared back. There was a lot she didn’t understand about all of this, but she trusted Jughead. He knew her so well already. It was unfair for the Serpents to take the heat for this, to make all of the sacrifices but she wasn’t a member. It wasn’t her place to start another war. So she agreed. “I promise” she said, putting her hand to his face. Jughead breathed a sigh of relief, feeling stupid for ever doubting Betty. 

“Thank you, for the warning. Again” Jason said. 

“We’ll do what we can, Blossom” Jughead said. “But please, no more stupid shit”. 

“You got it”, Jason said, putting his arm around Polly. “After I get this last payment, I’m out”. 

“One more thing” Jughead said. “I know now more than ever the Serpents are gonna get a lot of shit, but maybe we can help diffuse it but trying to merge more. Maybe another bonfire or something? And we can protect you if the Ghoulies decide to take a more direct approach and come to the Northside”. 

“You’re a lot smarter than you look, Jones” Jason said, jokingly.

“You’re still an ass” Jughead said, and all the boys laughed. Betty and Polly rolled their eyes at each other, they would never quite understand boy humor. 

Jason and Polly walked back inside. 

“I’ll give you two a minute” Joaquin said, walking back to the car. 

“So, is your dad like the Serpent king?” Betty asked Jughead. 

“Something like that” Jughead said, wrapping his arms around her waist. 

“I can’t believe my boyfriend is Serpent royalty” Betty said, smiling. 

“Your boyfriend?” Jughead asked, his eyebrow raising, the cockiest of smiles on his face. 

“Oh... I uh... didn’t mean to say that” Betty said, biting her lip, trying to get out of Jughead’s grip, but he wouldn’t let her.

“Betts” he said, looking into her bright green eyes, “I’m your boyfriend” giving her a wink that he knew she loved. 

Betty broke into the biggest smile, her heart overflowing with pure joy. 

“I’ve never had a boyfriend before” Betty said, and Jughead suddenly felt guilty. He needed to tell her about Toni. 

He cleared his throat. Letting go of her. “What’s wrong?” Betty asked him, confused by his sudden shift in mood. 

“I’ve had a girlfriend before. Her name was Toni. It didn’t last long, maybe 6 months? It was just, we were always good friends, and one day she told me that she liked me. Not gonna lie, I liked the attention more than anything. With my mom gone, my dad always drinking, Toni made me feel better, but she was just a distraction. She told me she loved me, and I didn’t feel it. So, I ended it. She didn’t take it well. In fact, up until recently she was kind of psycho about it”. 

Betty just looked down. “It would be really nice if you could say something right now” Jughead asked, his tone soft and quiet. 

“Did you...um...did you, you know, sleep with her?” Betty asked. 

“No” Jughead said. “We did other stuff, and she wanted to, but I couldn’t do that to her. I didn’t want hurt her anymore than I already would be. We would just hang out and do dumb shit, makeout here and there”. 

Betty winced. “Shit, I’m fucking this up, aren’t I?” Jughead said. “You probably think I’m a horrible person”. 

“No” Betty said quickly, putting her hand on his arm. “I appreciate you being honest with me, I really do. And it’s nice to know that we both haven’t done...um...THAT” Betty giggled. 

“I just want you to know, Betts. It’s different with you. With you, I feel everything. I meant what I said. I want to be your boyfriend” Jughead said. 

Betty closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I believe you” Betty said. 

Jughead pressed their foreheads together, and nuzzled his nose against hers. “I feel it too, Juggie” she whispered against his lips, and Jughead kissed her then. His arms wrapping behind her back, tangling into her hair as he tilted his head, and Betty kissed him back with equal force, her hands on his neck, her tongue in his mouth. Jughead licked the strawberry off her lips before biting down on them and pulling on her lip. Betty groaned, and Jughead moved his hands to her back, sliding down to squeeze her ass, and Betty was loving every second of it. He pushed her against the car they were standing by, and Betty ran her hands down his chest. They were so lost in themselves that they hadn’t even heard Betty’s door close, or Jason walking outside.

Jason cleared his throat, and Betty jumped away from Jughead, making him laugh. 

“Sorry” Jason said, “I was just leaving, and that’s my car”. 

“Right” Betty said, her face bright red. As Jason got into his car, Joaquin pulled up to the front of the house, perfect timing as always. 

“Be safe” Betty said, kissing Jughead one last time. 

“Always, Betts” Jughead answered, kissing her goodbye. 

Betty walked back into her house, her mind spinning from all the information she gathered tonight. Betty had no idea her life would be like this when she locked eyes with Jughead that day at Pop’s. She thought about how boring her life was before then, how lonely she was. Her life might be complicated right now, but she was closer to her sister, she had a solid friendship with Veronica, and she had Jughead to help her through her darkness. No matter how bad it might get, Betty knew now, that she wasn’t alone. She would help the Serpents, Jason, and Polly get through this. Because that’s who Betty was. 

***  
On Monday morning, Southside High was swarming with cops and police dogs, Mayor McCoy leading the way. The Serpents came out clean, but so did the Ghoulies, making the whole thing a bust. The only good that came of this was that there was no trail leading back to Jason at the moment. The Serpents were pissed, knowing this would delay their business even more as Mayor McCoy would take even more steps to prove the Serpents were the ones dealing Jingle Jangle, unable to distinguish them from the Ghoulies. For two weeks, Mayor McCoy was there everyday trying to catch anyone in any illegal activity, but being born in the Southside didn’t make these teens stupid. They knew how to survive better than anyone else, and that is exactly what they were doing. For two weeks, there was not a peep from the Ghoulies, not a single stick of Jingle Jangle sold. They must have had reliable sources on the inside too. 

After a few more days, things slowly started returning to normal. The raids and extra policing stopped, but just to be safe, FP instructed that the Serpents wait another week before returning to their night jobs. Jason informed Jughead that after the final playoff game, the boys in the locker room took some Jingle Jangle. Because the Serpents weren’t dealing right now, a bunch of Northsiders had turned to Jingle Jangle. Jason paid back the Ghoulies, and kept selling behind everyone’s back, as he now had double the amount of customers. Polly, Jughead, and Betty still in the dark. 

***  
It was a Friday night at Pop’s, and Betty was in a booth with Jughead, Kevin, and Veronica. Jughead was finally meeting Betty’s friends, and he was nervous so he also made Joaquin tag along. Joaquin and Kevin seemed to be hitting it off, while Jughead and Veronica didn’t really have anything in common, but Betty appreciated that they were both making an effort in the conversation. They were all laughing at Kevin’s impression of their science teacher when Archie walked in. 

“Archiekins!” Veronica said, hopping up to give him a kiss.   
Jughead could immediately feel the tension between Archie and Betty. Betty got up from the booth and walked over to him. 

“Look, Betty, I’m really sorry I was such an ass that day at lunch. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, and I should have done what you said. I should have listened, and trusted you. You’ve been my best friend since diapers, and it’s been killing me not talking to you. So, I’m really, really, sorry”, Archie said. 

“Thanks, Arch” Betty said, giving him a hug. 

“Aww, bff moment!” Veronica squealed, as Archie let go of Betty, and she went to introduce him to Jughead.

“Jughead, this is Archie. Archie, this is my boyfriend, Jughead”. Archie’s eyes widened a little at Betty calling Jughead her boyfriend, and Jughead felt the slightest bit of jealousy, but then Archie held out his hand, and Jughead shook it, as they all sat back down. Archie and Jughead started talking and soon enough it felt like they had known each other for years, instantly becoming friends. Betty was right. Archie just needed to give people a chance. 

Fangs and Sweet Pea walked in then, here for their regular Friday night ritual with Joaquin and Jughead, but they were also accompanied by Toni Topaz. 

The three of them pulled up chairs to the booth, as they introduced themselves. Betty tried to hide her look of shock when Toni said her name, and she held out her hand to shake Toni’s. Toni was beautiful, oozing confidence and sex appeal with her pink hair, crop top, and tight jeans. As much as Betty hated to admit it, she was jealous that Toni got to see Jughead everyday. That Toni had once kissed her boyfriend, and did "other stuff" as Jughead put it. But that was in the past. Betty just smiled at her, introduced herself, and then placed her hand in Jughead's, and he squeezed it, instantly calming her nerves. She knew she had nothing to worry about with Jughead. 

“We were just talking about your birthday party tomorrow, Jones” Toni said, a sly smile on her face, initiating phase two of her plan. 

Betty immediately whipped her head to Jughead, and Jughead closed his eyes. He was gonna kill Toni Topaz. 

“It’s really not a party” Joaquin quickly said, “just the Serpents hanging out”. 

“Jughead, it’s your birthday tomorrow? Why didn’t you tell me?” Betty asked. 

“Because I hate my birthday” Jughead explained. “Like DeSantos said, it’s not even a party. We just hang out outside my dad’s trailer, drink some beers and kick back”. 

“How do you hate your birthday? Let’s make it a party then! I can bake you a cake!” Betty exclaimed, her mind already spinning. 

“I can do the decorations!” Veronica said, inviting herself, per usual. 

“You should come too” Joaquin said to Kevin, making Kevin blush, and Jughead glare at his best friend for encouraging this. 

“Aw, come on Jones” Toni said, “Your northside friends want to come”, giving him a look, reminding Jughead of their conversation after the Serpent meeting. 

“Please, Jughead! Let me give you a birthday party” Betty begged, and like clockwork the entire football team walked in, Jason and Polly included. 

“Did someone say party?” Reggie asked. “Another rager at Andrews’s?” 

Jason came over then. “Planning a party without us, Betty?” 

“Of course not! You’re more than welcome, if that’s okay with Jughead?” her voice going higher at the end of her question. 

“We can move it to the Whyte Wyrm” Sweet Pea suggested, “hang out in the back, by the shed”. 

“That’d be perfect” Toni said, wanting to make this happen for her own selfish reasons. 

Everyone stared at Jughead, waiting for his answer. But he only looked at Betty, her green eyes big and bright, full of excitement and joy. It had been a while since Jughead saw her eyes glowing like that, how could he say no to her? 

“Okay” Jughead reluctantly agreed, and cheers erupted from all the teenagers in Pop’s.

“PARTY ON THE SOUTHSIDE” Moose yelled, making Jughead roll his eyes. He knew this was good, letting the Northsiders get to know the Serpents, he just wished his birthday wasn’t the reason behind it. Jason was also nervous. He owed the Ghoulies some money again and would rather not be on the Southside right now, but he figured he would be safe on Serpent’s territory. 

Betty and Veronica went into party planning mode, Betty playing nice and even letting Toni join them. Plus, she needed to know what the Serpents liked. The football boys promised to bring the kegs, and Jason promised to cover the food, something about his mom always having a caterer on hand. Josie and her pussycats even agreed to play some songs. This was turning into an all out rager, but after the rough times these past few weeks, the Serpents were excited to have something fun to do. Jughead had texted his dad, making sure it was okay with him and FP of course, allowed it, never one to turn away someone, despite where they lived in Riverdale. In fact, he also thought it was a good idea that Jughead got to know some people on the Northside, as it meant more connections. 

Chuck and Cheryl watched from the sidelines in complete disbelief at the scene unfolding before them. 

“Our dads aren’t gonna like this” Chuck said. 

“I know” Cheryl replied, the iciness in her voice a stark contrast to the fire in her eyes. “But we’ll be there tomorrow, we have to be”, eyes on Jason and Polly. How could her brother be so dumb?, she thought. 

She and Chuck walked over, her joining the vixens, and him joining the rest of the football guys, pretending to be just fine with what was happening. 

If someone had been looking in, it would have just seemed like a bunch of teenagers hanging out. No Northside or Southside, just kids being kids without a civil war to worry about. For one night, everyone just got along, but secrets don’t stay secrets in Riverdale for very long. The curse of a small town.


	10. Leather Jackets and Letterman Jackets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulldogs and Serpents mix and Jughead's birthday party.

After the commotion at Pop’s died down, Jughead offered to walk Betty home. They were holding hands, enjoying the silence after a few hours of socializing. When they got to Betty’s door, Betty wrapped her arms around him, looking up at his face with a little apprehension on her own. 

“Are you sure you’re okay with all of this?” Betty asked. “You just seemed so annoyed the entire time at Pop’s”. 

Jughead tightened his hold on her. “Look Betts, I’m just not a birthday party kind of guy. But you’re a birthday party kind of girl, and while I am dreading tomorrow, I know you’re happy, and that’s the best birthday present you could ever give me”. 

Betty started tearing up. “Jughead Jones, you’re amazing. I promise tomorrow will be fun”. 

“Oh, I know it won’t be. You’ll just have to make it up to me” he said, leaning in to kiss her. 

“I think I can handle that” Betty said, leaning in herself, kissing him more intensely. 

Jughead chuckled, “Oh, I am so holding you to that, Betts” he said against her lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow”, kissing her forehead before saying goodbye. 

***  
The next morning, Betty rushed out of bed, eager to start the party plans. She was determined to prove to Jughead that birthdays can be fun. She spent all morning running around with Veronica, picking up lights, decorations, tables. Veronica drove to them to the Southside to start setting everything up, pleasantly surprised to see Toni Topaz and some other Serpents already starting. 

“Hey there, Cooper” Joaquin greeted Betty. “We’re here to help. Do your worst”. 

Betty smiled at him. “Where’s Jug?” 

“Morning bike ride. Tradition” Toni answered her question. “Surprised he didn’t tell you”. 

Veronica glowered at Toni, knowing exactly what she was doing. But Betty, always polite, waved off the snide remark. 

“He must have forgot” Betty said with a smile, “no biggie. Joaquin, could you help us set up the tables please? And Sweet Pea, I need your height for the lights!” 

“You got it” Sweet Pea said, gathering the boxes from Veronica. Betty went with Joaquin and Sweet Pea, explaining to them and the other Serpents how she wanted everything to look. Toni walked up to the car but Veronica stepped in front of her. 

“Is there a problem?” Toni asked her, crossing her arms. 

Veronica rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re doing, trying to make it seem like you know Jughead better than anyone. But that ship has sailed, girl. Betty is the captain now. I don’t trust you. I see right through your little nice girl act” pointing up and down Toni with a sneer on her face. “I used to be a bitch, and it takes one to know one, so I’m telling you now, mess with Betty, and you deal with me. Got it?” 

Toni just laughed, stepping closer to Veronica’s face. “I’m not scared of you, ice princess”. 

Veronica stepped even closer, right in Toni’s face. “Like I said, I used to be a bitch. But I can bring her back any time I want. Rule one: Never cross a Lodge”. 

Betty walked up then. “Everything okay here, V?”. 

“Of course” Veronica answered. 

“Just having some fun girl talk” Toni responded to Betty, looking away from Veronica. 

“Okay…” Betty said, “well, the boys are useless without direction”

“They usually are” Veronica said, walking off to help the boys, leaving Betty alone with Toni. 

“I’m sorry for whatever Veronica said” Betty laughed, “that girl is like my sister but God knows she’s extra”. 

Toni just smiled. “It’s alright. She’s your bestie, I get it. I’m protective over the people I care about too” she said, eyeing Betty. 

Betty pursed her lips. “If you mean Jughead, I promise you I won’t hurt him. I really care about him”. 

“Then we’re all good, blondie” Toni said, her fake smile turning into a scowl as Betty turned her back to walk away. Playing the role of sweet southsider was starting to get old. She couldn’t wait to ruin Betty tonight. 

***  
By the afternoon, the old shed at the back of the Whyte Wyrm had been completely renovated. There were tables by the walls covered with black table cloths, plates, cups, and the room was covered with green confetti, balloons, and streamers. Betty was trying to be cute, decorating with the Serpent colors, knowing Jughead would appreciate it. Polly even baked a cake in the shape of a snake,. The Coopers were nothing if not bakers. There were strings of white lights hung up, leading to the center of the room. Josie and the Pussycats were setting up their equipment for their performance tonight, and Betty was rearranging some lights, standing on a chair when she suddenly felt it wobble. She knew she was about to fall and let out a yelp, waiting for her body to hit the cement underneath her but it never came. Instead, she found herself landing in someone’s arms, she opened her eyes only to be met by familiar blue ones. 

“You okay, Betts?” Jughead asked. 

Betty laughed off her nerves. Wrapping her arms around Jughead’s neck she dipped her head back and dramatically said, “my hero”. 

Jughead laughed too. “My serpent senses were tingling. You’re lucky I showed up when I did. That could have been bad”. 

“Always the gentleman, Juggie” she said to him as he set her down. 

“The place looks great, Betts. I love the colors” he added with a wink. “ You didn’t have to do all this” 

“Of course I did! I promise, you’re gonna love it. Reggie is bringing the karaoke machine, Jason will be here with the caterers around 6, and Moose will also be coming around then with the kegs. I think we have all the decorations set up, Polly has the cake…” Betty trailed off as she checked off her mental list, counting on her fingers. Jughead just stared. He loved the way the little vein on her temple popped out as she focused, her teeth biting her bottom lip, her mind shutting out the rest of the world. 

Jughead interrupted her thought process with a kiss, effectively silencing Betty. Betty sighed, and looked into his eyes. 

 

“Thank you, Betty Cooper” Jughead said, nothing but sincerity in his voice. 

Betty smiled. “I told you Juggie, you’re gonna love it”. 

“As long as you’re around, I know I will” he said, leaning down to kiss her again. He pulled back once he heard some whistles from his fellow serpents, but the way Betty was biting her lip almost made him not care. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and his dad came to join him. 

“This your girl, Jug?” FP asked. 

“Betty, this is my dad. Dad, Betty Cooper”. 

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Jones” Betty said, holding out her hand with a trademark Betty Cooper smile. 

“You too. You’ve cleaned up this place real nice. I appreciate everything you’re doing for Jughead” FP said, a hint of sadness behind his eyes. He knew he wasn’t a perfect father, and he knew he was a big reason why Jughead hated his birthday, so he meant what he said to Betty. He hoped Jughead would finally have a good birthday. 

“Of course, Mr. Jones. It’s my pleasure”. Betty looked at her watch then. “I really have to go now, I need to get myself ready. I’ll see you later” she said to Jughead, kissing him on the cheek. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Jones” she added, before finding Veronica and walking to her car. 

FP looked at Jughead. “You got yourself a good one, kid”. 

Jughead just smiled, watching as Betty waved from the car window. “Yeah, I do”. 

***  
When Betty and Veronica came back, more guests were starting to arrive. The food was set up, Reggie was handing out beers, and the Pussycats were doing a sound check. Betty checked her reflection in the window of Veronica’s car. She was wearing a white, shoulder cut out sweater with a deep v neck, pairing it with a tight pink skirt and of course, her converse. Her hair was half up, half down, and she was still sporting her pink lipstick. The outfit was a little more daring, but still very much Betty. 

Betty and Veronica walked over to where Jughead was sitting with the Serpents, surprised to see Archie also there, laughing with them. 

“You better get home and change” Toni said, “this party is about to be in full swing”. 

“I already did” Betty said, looking down at her clothes self-consciously. Veronica shot Toni a look. She clearly didn’t remember their conversation from earlier. 

Jughead pulled Betty onto his lap, whispering into her ear, “You look hot as fuck, Betts”, making Betty blush, and her confidence return. Veronica watched as Toni squirmed, happy to know that Jughead wouldn’t put up with any of her shit either. 

“Alright, guys and gals. Let’s get this party started” Josie said over the microphone, causing everyone to cheer and head to watch them. Jughead stood behind Betty, his arms wrapped around her shoulders as she held onto him, both of them swaying and dancing to the beat. Archie and Veronica seductively grinding to her left, Polly and Jason also swaying to her right. 

Jughead hated to admit it, but he was having fun. The Serpents in their leather and the Bulldogs in their Varsity jackets actually proved to be a good combination. They had challenged each other to endless games of beer pong, and some of the Serpents had moved some pool tables outside so they could play. Josie, Val and Melody were still killin it with the music, and he had his arm wrapped around Betty the whole night.   
He smirked, and Betty caught him. “Penny for your thoughts, Juggie?”. 

“You were right, Betts. This is a good time” he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Best birthday ever”. 

Betty’s eyes lit up. “You really mean that?” 

Jughead just looked at her, at how happy she was. He looked around, seeing all of his friends getting along with northsiders, his father sober enough to have a conversation, and his beautiful girl by his side, who had put all of this together. He was 100% honest when he said, “yeah Betts, I really mean it”. 

“So does that mean I don’t have to make it up to you anymore?” Betty asked seductively, biting her lip. 

“Oh, hell no. You’re not getting out that easy, Betty Cooper”. 

“Good” she said, and Jughead’s jaw dropped as she took his hand, leading him away from the crowd, trying to find a more quiet place. She turned so quickly she didn’t even see Toni behind her, and she collided with her, Toni’s beer spilling all over Betty’s white sweater. 

“Aww, shit. I am so sorry Betty!” Toni gasped. 

“It’s okay” Betty said, “I’m just all sticky now. I can’t go home smelling like beer” she said to Jughead. 

“I have some extra clothes in my gym bag in Joaquin’s car. I’ll go grab you a shirt” Jughead said, running off to the car. Betty stayed where she was, waiting for Jughead outside the bar. 

“I’ll go get you some napkins” Toni said. 

(Meanwhile)

Jason was grabbing some more food, when he felt his phone vibrate. He looked down at the number. “Fuck” he said, putting down the plate and stepping away from the music so he could hear. 

“Hello?” Jason answered. 

“Where’s my money, Blossom?” the voice on the other line asked.

“I’ll have it soon”, Jason said. 

“Soon doesn’t cut it anymore”. 

“What more do you want from me? I warned you about the cops, I doubled your sales. With you upcharging the Jingle Jangle, it takes a little longer for kids to come up with the money”. 

“You’ve gotten comfortable, Blossom. I think you need some incentive” the Ghoulie said, and Jason heard a female scream on the phone. He froze. “We got your girl, Blossom. Get the money by tonight, or she won’t be so pretty the next time you see her”. 

“Don’t you fucking touch her” Jason said. 

“Then get us the money” and the Ghoulie hung up. 

Jason frantically searched the party for Polly, praying the Ghoulies were just bluffing to scare him. He found Polly dancing with Veronica, and he immediately ran to her, enveloping her in a hug, happy she was safe. 

“What’s up with you, babe?” Polly asked. 

“Nothing” Jason said, cupping her face. “I just, love you” he said. 

“I love you too” Polly said, confused at Jason’s behavior. 

Jughead walked over to them then, holding one of his shirts. “Hey, have you guys seen Betty?” he asked. 

The color drained from Jason’s face, realizing that if Polly was here, and Betty was missing, there was only person he could have heard while he was on the phone with the Ghoulies. 

Jughead looked to Jason, his fear growing as he saw the complete look of horror on Jason’s face. 

His eyes scanned the room, walking over to all the huddled groups, calling her name. There was no sign of her. He walked back over to Jason. “What the fuck is it, Blossom. Spit it out” he sneered. 

“Babe?” Polly asked, nervously. 

“I….I think the Ghoulies have Betty”. Jason finally said. 

This time, Jughead froze. He knew it was too good to be true. God, he really fucking hated his birthday.


	11. The Serpent Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead Jones is going to do whatever it takes to get his girl back.

Toni had been watching Betty and Jughead like a hawk all night, gagging at their constant PDA. Toni and Jughead had always been so secretive, hooking up in dark, abandoned places around Southside. Yet here he was, a beautiful, blonde, northsider, attached to his hip at all times, on her turf no less, for all the North and Southside to see. No. Toni couldn’t allow that. She would drive her out every chance she got. 

She was looking at them now, Betty biting her lip, Jughead giving her those eyes as she tried to pull him away from the party. Betty had her back turned, walking backwards, so she would never see it coming if Toni just casually walked up next to her, tilted her cup and…

“Aww, shit. I am so sorry Betty!” Toni gasped, laughing on the inside. 

“It’s okay” Betty said, “I’m just all sticky now. I can’t go home smelling like beer” she said to Jughead. Toni mentally rolled her eyes. Of course, little miss perfect had to be prim and proper always. 

“I have some extra clothes in my gym bag in Joaquin’s car. I’ll go grab you a shirt” Jughead said, running off to the car. Betty stayed where she was, waiting for Jughead outside the bar. 

“I’ll go get you some napkins” Toni said, turning away. She was actually on her way to grab some paint, ready to go full blown Carrie on Betty, when an arm reached out and pulled her away. Toni looked directly into a Ghoulie’s eyes, and if it weren’t the other three behind him, or the knife currently pressed to her throat, she would have tried to fight. 

“I’m gonna let go of your mouth now, snake. Scream and it’s over. You got it?” the Ghoulie whispered menacingly. 

Toni nodded. Staying true to her word. 

“We’re not here for you. It’s actually the northsiders we’ve got a bone to pick with. Jason Blossom here?”, the Ghoulie asked her. 

“Who the hell is Jason Blossom?” Toni asked innocently. 

The knife pressed closer into her skin. “Don’.t Fuck. With. Me”, the Ghoulie said sternly. 

Toni gulped. “I swear, I don’t know who he is”. 

“Fuck. Well, maybe you know his girl then. She’s what we’re really here for. Polly Cooper, some blonde chick, green eyes, looking like Barbie. You know her?” 

A thought crossed Toni’s mind then. This was way better than what she had planned. 

“No, don’t know her. But I do know there’s a blonde barbie with green eyes, alone by the bar right now. I’m guessing that’s your girl?” Toni asked. 

The Ghoulies let her go as Toni pointed out the way. She could barely hear Betty’s muffled struggles, and a car door slamming, running back to the Serpents as if she had been there the whole time. If she couldn’t have Jughead Jones, then no one could. 

***  
Jughead walked right up to Jason’s face. “What do you mean, you think the Ghoulies have Betty? What in the hell would they want with her?”. 

“I never stopped dealing for them. I still owe them money. They called me and said they had Polly, but I found her here so I just assumed they were bluffing. It never occurred to me that they could have mistaken Betty for you” he said, looking to Polly. 

“Okay, hold on” Jughead said, refusing to believe this was true. “Last I saw, Betty was with Toni. Maybe they were actually just bluffing”. 

“I heard a scream, Jones”, Jason said gravely. 

“No” Jughead said. “Let’s find Toni first”. 

Polly, Veronica, Jason, and Jughead all approached Toni, Sweet Pea, Fangs, Joaquin and Kevin. 

“Where’s Betty?” Jughead asked Toni. 

“How should I know? I offered her some help, said she didn’t need it from a slut like me, so I left her alone” Toni said. 

“Bullshit” Veronica spat, “Betty would never insult a girl like that”. 

“Or maybe blondie isn’t as innocent as you all think” Toni defended. 

Joaquin looked to Jughead, noting the fear in his eyes. “What’s going on, Jones?” 

“Blossom here has been dealing Jingle Jangle, and hasn’t been paying. They came here for Polly, took Betty instead. God, she must be terrified right now” Jughead’s voice was shaking, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. 

“What’s the deal they made, Blossom? What do they want?” Joaquin asked him. 

“They said as long as I gave them the money, they wouldn’t hurt her”.  
“And if you didn’t?” Joaquin asked. 

“Their exact words were, ‘she won’t be so pretty the next time you see her’ “. 

Jughead shivered. “I swear to fucking God, Blossom, if anything happens to Betty I will kill you myself. Get the money”. 

“Don’t you think I’ve been trying, Jones?!” Jason said. 

“Obviously not hard enough. How much do you owe them?” Jughead asked. 

“$5,000” Jason answered. 

“Why don’t you go ask daddy?” Jughead sneered. 

“No fucking way” Jason said. 

“Seriously, Jason?! That’s my sister!” Polly started crying. “Veronica?” 

“I’m sorry” Veronica said, her own voice thick with tears. “With daddy in so much trouble, we don’t even have that. I’m so sorry”. 

Jughead walked over to Jason then, and punched him in the face. Jason was on the floor, and Jughead just kept hitting and hitting him. Joaquin came over and pulled him off, Archie, Moose, and Reggie running to Jason. 

“What the hell is going on here?” asked Archie. 

“Betty’s been kidnapped by the Ghoulies, thanks to Riverdale’s golden boy” Jughead spat, wiping the blood off his knuckles. Polly was bending beside Jason, looking over his face. 

“Is that true, Blossom?” Archie asked. 

“Well, where do you think the party favors came from, Andrews? I’m not a magician” Jason said, as he spat out some blood. 

“After this, the Serpents are done bailing you out. I’m going to go talk to my dad, see if he can loan the money. You will pay us back every cent. You fucking got that, Blossom?” Jughead yelled. 

Jason only nodded. “Let’s go” Jughead said to his Serpents. When Toni started walking with them, he stopped her. 

“I can take care of myself, Jones” Toni said to him.  
“I don’t trust you, Topaz. Betty never would have called you a slut, and you were the last person she was with. And now she’s gone. I don’t want you around. For the final time, I’m telling you, leave me alone”. And with that, Jughead left, his three boys following him into the bar. 

Veronica walked up to Toni, tears still streaming down her face, but her voice still strong. “I told you, you never cross a Lodge. Betty is my best friend, and if she’s not okay because of you, well, daddy can still do business behind bars” . 

Toni walked away then, leaving Archie to wrap his arms around Veronica. Polly scowling at Jason but still tending to his cuts. Reggie and Moose went back to clear out the party, telling everyone to go home. The parking lot started to become empty, while the teenagers waited outside of the bar, hoping for good news when Jughead came back. 

***  
Jughead and the boys found his dad playing darts with some older Serpents. Tall Boy immediately stood up, noticing the intense look on all the boys’ faces, and Jughead’s red rimmed eyes. 

“What’s the matter, Jug?” FP asked. 

“I’ll explain it all later, but right now I really don’t have the time. The Ghoulies have Betty. I need $5,000 to get her back” Jughead told his father. 

“That’s a lot of money, boy” Tall Boy answered. 

“I’m talking to my father” Jughead said to him. “Dad. Please”. 

“It’s done” FP said, “I’ll be back”. 

“Like hell you will” Tall Boy said. “Your son comes crying over some northside bitch, and you just wanna hand over money to the Ghoulies?” 

Jughead snapped. He went over and his fist met Tall Boy’s face, hard. Tall Boy stumbled back, pausing only for a second before he collided his fist with Jughead’s face, only harder. Knocking him to the ground. 

“Turning your back on your own, I see” Tall Boy said. 

FP grabbed Tall Boy the collar, and punched him too. “That is my boy. Don’t you ever lay a hand on him again. Serpents are a family, and he loves Betty, which makes her family. We take care of our own. Don’t you ever question my decisions again, or you’re out. Understood?” 

Tall Boy backed off, and FP returned with a stack of money. “Need some backup?” FP asked Jughead. 

Joaquin stepped up then. “We got it, FP.” Fangs and Sweet Pea joining him. 

“You always do” FP replied, handing Jughead the money. 

Jughead knew now really wasn’t the time for this, but he couldn’t help but ask. “What makes you think I love Betty?” he asked his father. 

“I might do dumb things, Jughead, but I’m not stupid. It’s in your eyes. Now go get your girl” FP told him. 

Jughead smiled at his dad, before walking out of the bar with his crew. As soon as he was outside, he grabbed Jason by his collar and pulled him up. “You’re coming with. They still think she’s Polly. So you just hand them the money, and get her out of there, understand? I’m afraid of what they’ll do to her if they find out she’s mine, and a bunch of Serpents show up at their door. But if you take too long, we’re coming in. Do not fuck this up, Blossom”. 

Jason looked to Polly, and kissed her. “No matter what happens, I love you. I’m sorry”. 

“Please be careful” Polly said, kissing him back as tears were falling down her face. “Bring my sister home”. 

“I wanna go too” Archie spoke up. 

Veronica pulled on his arm, “Archie, please, no”. 

“Betty has been with me through everything. If I can help in any way to bring her home safely, I want to help” Archie said to Jughead. 

“Then hop in” Jughead said to him, watching as Archie kissed Veronica passionately. 

Jughead looked away, more tears streaming down his face, jealous that Jason and Archie’s girls were safe, while his was in danger. Joaquin came over, placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“We’re gonna get her back, Jones. She’s gonna be okay”, Joaquin said. 

Jughead just nodded, wiping his eyes with the palms of his hands. All six boys climbed in to Joaquin’s car, completely silent as Joaquin drove them to Ghoulie territory. Jughead closed his eyes, thinking of Betty’s soft skin, her strawberry lips, her bottom lip inbetween her teeth, and her pink sweaters. He took a deep breath. It’s a simple trade off. The money for the girl, he thought. She would be back in his arms soon. 

***  
In a basement deep in the Southside, Betty found herself tied to her a chair, blood dripping from her forehead, as she slowly came back to consciousness. She heard whispers, and she slowly lifted her head, trying to become aware of her surroundings. She looked up to see two men, dark hair, olive skin, adorned in leather and studs, looking over her. 

One came over, removed the tape from her lips quickly, causing Betty’s face to sting a little. He gripped her chin roughly, “You sure are sweet” he said, eyes trailing from Betty’s chest to her lips, placing a finger in her mouth. Betty bit it. The Serpent narrowed his eyes at her, before slapping her across the face, the force burning her cheek. 

“I take it back” the Ghoulie said, “you’re pretty fiesty”. 

“Why am I here?” Betty asked. Her nails digging into her palms, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. 

“Your ginger boyfriend owes us money. You’re insurance that he pays us back. Quickly”. 

Betty kept her face blank as she processed what he said. Jason was still dealing. They think she’s Polly, and as much as she would rather not be here right now, she’s thankful they took her instead of her sister. 

Suddenly the door burst open, and in walked the last person Betty ever wanted to see. Chuck Clayton, sporting a leather studded jacket. 

“Chuck?!” 

“Betty?!” 

“Whoa, whoa”, the other Ghoulie said, “I thought this was Polly Cooper, Jason’s girl”. 

“No” Chuck answered, “This is Betty Cooper. Jughead Jones’s girl”, with a smirk on his lips. 

The Ghoulie just laughed, looking down at Betty. “You mean to tell me, we have the Serpent princess? Aw, hell”. 

Chucked walked over to Betty then, kneeling down to meet her eyes. “Things just got a lot worse for you, Cooper”.


	12. Secret Weapons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead makes a plan with his Serpents and the Bulldogs to save Betty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shorter chapter! It's finals week for me, but when I need a break from studying I try to write. More is coming soon, I promise! Also, if there are any characters or things you would like to see more, please let me know! 
> 
> Thanks everyone for your support, and for reading :)

Betty spat in Chuck’s face. “Get the hell away from me, Chuck. What are you even doing here?” 

Chuck wiped the liquid from his eye, eyeing Betty with a cold look on his face. It made Betty physically shudder. 

“Come on Cooper” he said, cupping her cheek as Betty flinched back, “I thought you were smarter than this?”

“You’re a Ghoulie” Betty said, “that much is obvious. But why? At least it explains why you hate the Serpents so much”. 

“You can ask questions all you want, Cooper. But it won’t do you any good” Chuck replied, with an evil smirk on his face. He walked over to her, grasping Betty’s face roughly in one hand before lowering his voice. As much as Betty wanted to be strong, she was terrified when Chuck said, “If you say one fucking word to anyone about me in the Ghoulies, I will end you. We will come for everything and everyone you love. Polly, Veronica, Archie, Jughead…” 

Betty’s eyes immediately began to water, the forceful grip on her face was sure to leave a bruise, and if that didn’t do it, the punch to her right eye would. 

“That’s for choosing a snake over me” Chuck spat, pure hatred in his voice. 

“God, Chuck” Betty whispered, her right eye closed and her cheek throbbing. “All this because I told you no? Get the fuck over it”. 

Chuck’s hands wrapped around her throat, closing off her air. Betty’s nails were in so deep in her palms, blood was dripping down to the floor. She was turning blue as Chuck breathed in her face, “Tsk Tsk. What would your mother say if she could see you now? Ladies don’t curse, Betty. Where’s the sweet, dependable girl Mother Cooper raised? Hell, if you wanna be bad, I can show you” Chuck said, his eyes trailing back to Betty’s chest. 

There was a knock on the door and Chuck released his hands, walking out and leaving in the room Betty gasping for air and crying, biting her lip to keep from sobbing. She unclenched her fists, the air hitting her lungs sharply in a way that was both relieving and painful. 

Betty cried, her head whipping up when the door opened, grateful that it wasn’t Chuck, but Jason, and the two Ghoulies from before. 

“What the fuck?” Jason said, rushing over to Betty. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her if I gave you the money, and I just did”. 

“We said we wouldn’t hurt your girl” one of the Ghoulies answered, “little did we know, that we got the wrong girl. Which you knew about, didn’t you, Blossom?”. 

Jason turned around, stunned by their knowledge. “It doesn’t matter anyway” Jason said. “You got your money, let us go”. 

Jason went behind Betty, beginning to untie her hands when the Ghoulie came over and held him as the other hit him repeatedly. 

“No, it’s not that simple anymore, Blossom” the Ghoulie said, holding Jason’s shirt in his fists. “We know who she is. So you’re gonna go out there, and tell that fucking Serpent Jones that if he wants his girl, it’s gonna cost more. $10,000 more and his serpent princess goes free”, pushing Jason out the door, once again leaving Betty crying with two Ghoulies hovering over her. 

Jason walked out of the building hunched over, holding his sides as the other boys hopped out of the car. 

“What happened?!” Jughead yelled frantically, “Where’s Betty?!”

“They know who she is” Jason said. “I don’t know how they found out, but they know she’s not Polly. They know she’s your girlfriend. They’re asking for $10,000 more”. 

“FUCK” Jughead yelled, pulling his beanie down tighter and crying. “The Serpents don’t have that kind of money. Jason please, please call your dad”. Jason only looked away. 

“Why don’t we call the cops?!” Archie suggested, “Sheriff Keller can come handle it”. 

“Until when?!” Jughead said. “If we call the cops, that starts an all out war, not just against us, but against Betty and Polly and even fucking Blossom”. 

“He’s right” Joaquin said to Archie. “And if they hear anything and hurt Betty in the meantime, what good does it do?”. 

“Why don’t we go in and fight?!” Sweet Pea suggested. 

“You have a fucking death wish?!” Reggie asked. 

“Hold on, let’s just think” Joaquin said. “How many guys did you see in there, Blossom?” 

“Three. One by the door, two by Betty”, Jason answered. 

“Seven against three” Sweet Pea said, “I like those odds”. 

“And their guns?!” Reggie asked. 

“If we take on the one by the door, he won’t have enough time. He knows Jason is here, and he probably thinks Jughead is with some Serpents, but I doubt they’re expecting 3 buff as hell football players. We have that on our side” Joaquin explained. Sweet Pea and Fangs nodded. 

“Okay, but like Jughead said, then what? Won’t they just keep coming after us?” asked Archie. 

“We’ll deal with that later. I need to get Betty out of there, now”, Jughead said. “Was she okay?” Jughead asked Jason, still looking at him with disgust over the fact that he couldn’t swallow his pride and ask his dad for the money. 

“Her right eye was swollen, and there was blood on her head” Jason answered honestly, and the silence that fell over the boys was staggering, the emotion between them almost tangible as the weight of Jason’s words hit them. Someone was hurting Betty. 

Jughead was seeing red, all rational thought out of his mind. Fuck the rules, and fuck the consequences. Someone hit the girl he loved and they were gonna pay for it. 

Moose and Reggie immediately stepped forward. “We’ll help you get her back from those low life, fucking scum” Reggie said. 

Archie went over to Jughead. “Tell us the plan”. 

***  
Chuck returned, and the two Ghoulies in the room left. Betty groaned. “Please, Chuck, just go”. 

“They’re taking awfully long out there” Chuck said, “Jughead must not like you all that much”. 

“Shut up” Betty said, her nails once again digging into her skin. Her hands would be scarred forever after tonight. 

“Well, why isn’t your prince charming rushing in here then?” 

Betty knew what Chuck was trying to do, and she was doing her best to ignore him. She knew Jughead cared about her, she felt it. Because she cared about him too. And right now, all she wanted was to be in his arms, away from Chuck, breathing in Jughead’s familiar scent of smoke and his cologne, his tight grip around her waist, making her feel safe, at home. Here, in the worst situation Betty has ever been in, her thoughts were consumed by Jughead. Which made her realize, she loved him. And she only hoped that he loved her too, loved her enough to get her out of here. 

There was a loud noise outside the door, and Chuck cracked it open to see his fellow bulldogs beating on his other team, the Ghoulies. 

“Oh fuck” Chuck yelled. Betty opened her mouth to scream but Chuck had his hand over mouth. He was too quick. Chuck didn’t have enough time to get him and Betty in the car, and he couldn’t risk being caught. He was the Ghoulies’ secret weapon and if the boss found out Northsiders knew of his involvement in the Southside, he’d be dead for sure. His hands were around her neck again, making his point clear when he said “not a word about me Elizabeth Cooper, to anyone”. He let go of her mouth and ran out the back door in the room. 

Betty could hear the commotion going on outside, a mixture of grunts and and swears, but then the door flew open and she looked up into blue eyes, and immediately felt relief. “BETTY, OH MY GOD” Jughead gasped. 

Jughead’s heart broke and a lump formed in his throat at the sight of Betty. He began to untie her and once she was finally free, she wrapped her arms around Jughead and sobbed. 

Jughead held her tight to his body, crying too. Betty pulled away, and looked at his face. Jughead gently touched her eye that had been swelled shut, also noticing the red hand marks around her neck. 

“Jones, let’s go” they heard Joaquin yell, and Jughead grabbed Betty’s hand, rushing them over the unconscious Ghoulies and out the door. They all ran to Joaquin’s car, squeezing in as tight as they could, Jughead in the front seat with Betty on his lap, not really giving a shit about the law right now. It was only a short drive back to the Whyte Wyrm. As Joaquin drove, Jughead looked down at Betty’s bruised and bloody face. 

“Those fucking animals” Jughead said, his voice breaking. “We need to get you to the hospital” he said, after noticing her forehead was still bleeding. 

“No, please, no Juggie” Betty begged, her voice hoarse from nearly being choked “my mom will find out and it will only make things worse, please Juggie, I’m so tired, just take me home with you” she pleaded. 

“Okay, okay, it’s okay” Jughead soothed her. “You can stay at my place”. 

“I’ll tell Ronnie to cover for you Betty” Archie said, “I’m so glad you’re okay”. 

“Thank you, Arch” she said, and then adding, “thank you, all of you”, looking to the Serpents and Bulldogs who helped saved her. They all just nodded. 

Jason spoke next. “I am so so sorry Betty. This is all my fault”. 

Betty wanted to forgive him, but right now she wasn’t ready. She had been through so much, and the thought that this could have been her sister made it all worse. 

“Get out of this, Jason. No more” was all she said, and Jason nodded. 

“Betty…” Joaquin began 

“Not now, DeSantos” Jughead said. 

“No, it’s okay” Betty said, “I’ll tell you everything”. 

And she did. From the beginning, to three men approaching her, throwing her into a car and knocking her head against the window. Waking up tied up in the basement with two Ghoulies. She left out Chuck, not wanting to see if he would make good on his threats. 

“How did they find out who you were?” Joaquin asked. 

She opened her mouth to speak, then quickly shut it. Only Jughead noticed the hesitancy behind her eyes before she quickly answered “I don’t know. They kept leaving and coming back, so I don’t know, someone must have told them”. Her eyes tearing up again. 

Jughead squeezed his arm around her, “Okay, I think that’s enough for right now” and Betty nodded. 

“I’ll drop you guys off” Joaquin said. They made one stop at the Whyte Wyrm, dropping off the bulldogs, Jughead thanking them for all their help. 

“I owe you guys one” Jughead said, nothing but sincerity in his voice. 

“You don’t owe us anything, dude” Archie said, Moose and Reggie nodding in agreement. 

“You ever need any more help, Bulldogs got your back” Reggie added, before they headed to their cars. 

When they pulled up in front of Jughead’s trailer, he took Betty inside and silently lead her to the bathroom. He began to clean the cut on her forehead, Betty wincing at the sting from the alcohol. 

“You might have a concussion” Jughead said, “you shouldn’t sleep”. 

Betty nodded. “I’ll leave you some clothes and a towel, so you can shower” he said to her. 

Betty welcomed the warmth of the water, scrubbing every inch of her body, trying to get the feeling of Chuck’s hands off of her. She scrubbed until her body felt raw, and her skin burned. She looked down at her palms, her crescent scars deep, not sure what to make of them. She shut off the water, got dressed, and opened the door. 

Jughead waited outside the bathroom, sitting on the floor while Betty showered inside. When she came out, dressed in his shirt and boxers, he took her to his room, where he knelt behind her and brushed her hair. He tried not to focus on the finger shaped bruises forming around her neck, otherwise he would turn livid again. 

Betty was here, with him, safe. That’s what mattered. Suddenly, she turned around, placing a hand on his cheek. “There is so much I need and want to say to you Juggie, but this is most important. I love you”. 

Jughead’s lips were on hers in a second, his fingers in her wet hair, and Betty’s hands on his waist. He pulled back, and looked into her emerald eyes and whispered, “I love you too”.


	13. Gossip and Giggles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica helps Betty cover up her bruises, giving her a much needed distraction from the events that took place with the Ghoulies.

Jughead woke the next morning before Betty, staring down at her sleeping on his chest. She had been too tired to talk last night, so he just gently stroked her hair while hugging her close. He didn’t know what he did to deserve the sleeping angel in his arms, and after last night, after seeing the bruises on her usually perfect, soft, smooth skin, he was going to do whatever it took to protect her. To keep her safe. He subconsciously tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer to his body, causing Betty to stir awake. 

She sighed happily, and Jughead leaned down to press his lips to her hair. “I’m sorry Betts, I didn’t mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep” he whispered. 

Betty groaned, feeling the ache on her cheek and the soreness of her hands from being constrained as her body began to wake up. The horrible events of last night coming back to her, clouding over the easiness she felt in Jughead’s arms. The hand that had been resting on Jughead’s chest curled into a fist, but Jughead pulled it apart, intertwining his fingers with hers. He didn’t want her hurting more than she already was. 

“Hey” he said softly, “It’s okay. I’ve got you now, you’re safe, Betty, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you again”. 

Betty only nodded. Still unable to form words and explain to Jughead everything she knew. Every time she opened her mouth last night to tell him about Chuck, she could feel Chuck’s hands around her neck, closing off her airway. And after the words her and Jughead exchanged last night, she knew that this was real, and she wanted to protect Jughead just as much as he wanted to protect her. She would never forgive herself if Chuck and the Ghoulies came after him, knowing she could have prevented it just by keeping her mouth shut. 

But, the angel on her shoulder also told her that she didn’t want to keep things from Jughead. That’s not who they were. They had been so honest with each other since the beginning of their relationship, and she didn’t want to lose that trust. She loved him, he loved her. That mattered more than anything to Betty at the moment, and she knew that you didn’t lie to the people you loved. Jason lied to Polly, and although it was Betty who paid the price for that, it was supposed to be her sister. No, Betty couldn’t let something this big create a distance between her and Jughead. 

She quickly shot up, surprising Jughead. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Jughead sat up too, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and rubbing her arm soothingly. 

“Juggie, I need to tell you something” she said, not meeting his eyes. “I kind of lied last night when Joaquin asked me how the Ghoulies knew who I was”. 

Jughead only nodded, remembering her slight pause after Joaquin asked her the question. If he didn’t already know her so well, he would have believed her. He wasn’t angry with her, knowing she would have her reasons for keeping something to herself. 

“It’s okay, Betts” he encouraged, “you can tell me the truth now”. 

“Here’s the thing, Jughead, it could put you at risk, and I meant what I said last night. I do love you, and I just don’t want to see you get hurt”. 

Jughead blinked in shock. “Betts, you’re the one covered in bruises right now. It’s me who should be worrying about you. Please, tell me what happened”. 

“Just...for right now...this stays between you and me. Okay? Promise me” she said.

Jughead looked into her eyes, they were pleading with him and he knew if she was willing to trust him with this, then he needed to trust her too. “I promise” he said, never breaking away from her gaze. 

“There’s this guy at school. He’s been kind of making my life hell since...well, since I started dating you because I shot him down. He’s the one who called me a slut…” Betty said, bracing herself for Jughead’s reaction. 

“Chuck” Jughead stated, remembering the night he found Betty crying outside of Pop’s. He was furious then, and if that bastard had hurt her even more….

“Right” Betty said, taking a deep breath before she continued. “He’s a Ghoulie”. 

Betty could feel Jughead’s muscles tense up around her. “He wasn’t there last night?” Jughead asked. 

“He was” Betty answered, “he was the one...who told them that I wasn’t Polly. He said that no one at school knows he’s a Ghoulie, and that if I told anyone about it, he would come after everyone I love…”

“Is he the one who hurt you, Betty?” Jughead asked through gritted teeth. 

Betty nodded, and Jughead was off the bed, pulling a shirt over his head. 

“Jughead, wait” Betty said, hopping off the bed to block him in front of the door. 

“Betty, he hurt you! He hit you! That mother fucker is done. Get out of the way, please”. 

“No” Betty yelled, “you promised. This stays between us. If you go and attack him, unprovoked, he’ll know I told you”.  
“What do you expect me to do here, Betty? Just let him get away with it!” He caressed her cheek, becoming more livid by the second as he looked at the blue and purple mark surrounding her eye. “I meant what I said last night too. And I’ll be damned if someone touches the girl I love”. 

Betty grabbed onto the wrist that was holding her cheek. “Juggie, you’re angry. I get it. But you need a better plan. You need to calm down first. I didn’t tell you this so you could go and take on Chuck alone. We can figure out a way to use this, and we’ll get him back. We’ll figure it out, together, okay?” 

Jughead looked at her big and bright green eyes, knowing he could never say no to her when she was looking at him like that. She was right. Storming after Chuck wouldn’t do any good at the moment. “Okay” he whispered, and Betty breathed a sigh of relief. 

Jughead wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close again, holding her tightly to him. Betty’s arms wrapped around his back, gripping his shoulders as she buried her face in his chest. She had never truly had a place to call home, with her overbearing mother always criticizing, but in Jughead’s arms, that’s where she felt like she was. Home. 

There was a knock on the door then, and Betty jumped at the sound. “Stay here” Jughead said, letting her go. 

He went into the kitchen and grabbed the broom, knowing it wouldn’t do much but he could at least hit someone with it if they were unwelcome. 

He hesitantly opened the door, relief washing over him as he saw it was Joaquin and Sweet Pea, along with Archie and Veronica. 

“Oh, sorry, Jones, did we interrupt your Sunday morning cleaning?” Joaquin joked, earning him a smack on the head with the broom. “HEY” Joaquin said, still laughing as he walked inside, the others following. 

“What are you guys doing here? And what is all that?” Jughead asked, pointing out the very large bag in Veronica’s arms. 

“Makeup” Veronica said, “Archie said Betty was in pretty bad shape, and she’s going to need to go home tonight since we have school tomorrow, and she can’t very well just walk in with a black eye”. 

“I hadn’t even thought about that. I’m sure Betty will appreciate it. Thank you, Veronica” Jughead said. 

Betty came out then, after hearing the voice of her best friend carry into the hallway. Veronica gasped at the sight of Betty, her eyes watering instantly. She ran over and wrapped her friend in a hug, Betty’s eyes immediately misting as well. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay, B” Veronica cried. “I don’t know what I would have done if something happened to you”. 

“I’m okay, I promise” Betty replied, letting go. 

“I went to Sephora and bought every shade of foundation, concealer, powder, you name it. I came to help, in any way I can” Veronica stated. 

“Thank you so much, V. I was just gonna stop at the nearest Walgreens before I went home”. 

“Nonsense” Veronica said, “only the best for my girl”, linking her arm with Betty’s, the way she did on the very first day they met. It made Betty smile, reminiscing about how far they had come as friends, happy to have Veronica at her side. “Jughead, we’re gonna need the bathroom please” Veronica said. 

“It’s all yours ladies” Jughead replied, watching Betty and Veronica drag Veronica’ s giant bag into the bathroom, laughing as he heard Betty say, “Jesus V, did you buy the whole store?” 

Jughead turned his head back to the boys in his living room. “How did you and Veronica end up with these two fools?” he asked Archie, while Sweet Pea playfully punched Jughead’s arm. 

“Ronnie and I couldn’t sleep” Archie began. “She was up all night worried about Betty, and when I finally got to her apartment to explain what happened, she kinda just went into overdrive. She was on the phone, convincing the manager at the makeup store to open up early because Veronica needed to buy makeup ASAP, and it was a legit emergency. So bright and early, we drove to the store, Veronica bought about a million different bottles, claiming she needed ‘heavy duty shit’ if she was gonna cover up Betty’s marks. And then we drove to the Whyte Wyrm, hoping to find anyone who could tell us where Betty was. Thankfully, we ran into Joaquin and Sweet Pea cleaning up the remainder of the garbage from the party, and they drove us here”. 

“I wasn’t sure if you wanted any visitors right now, but the raven haired princess in there wasn’t gonna take no for answer” Joaquin explained. 

“She rarely does” Archie laughed, the other boys joining in. 

“Well, I’m glad Betty has a friend like her. Betty’s gonna need all the friends she can get right now. Something big is coming, boys. I can’t explain everything right now, but the Ghoulies need to pay for what they did to Betty. I’m gonna need you guys”, Jughead said solemnly. 

“You don’t even have to ask, Jones” Joaquin said, Sweet Pea nodding in agreement. Archie stood up too. 

“Like Reggie said last night, Bulldogs got your back” Archie said.  
Meanwhile, Betty and Veronica were having a chat of their own. 

“Look V, I appreciate your concern and I am really grateful for everything you’re doing for me, but I just don’t have it in me to rehash the events of last night. Is that okay?” Betty said. 

“Of course, B. You don’t have to tell me anything at all. You’re okay, and that’s all that matters. I’m pretty sure your boytoy in there has this covered, but if he doesn’t kick the ass of whoever did this to you, I will personally kick Jughead’s ass”. 

Betty laughed at that. “Down, girl. Jughead and I will figure it out. And could you not call him my boytoy? That’s just weird”. 

“Well, care to tell me about anything else that happened last night? I can’t help but notice those aren’t your clothes you’re wearing” Veronica asked, with the raise of her perfectly arched eyebrow as she dabbed some concealer onto Betty’s cheek.

Betty winced at the contact, but let Veronica continue her work. She could deal with the pain if it meant she would look normal. “Nothing happened, V. I just showered here”. 

“Did he join you?” Veronica asked. 

“Veronica!!” Betty exclaimed, her cheeks blushing red. “No, he did not. Although, I guess I kind of lied. Something did happen last night”. 

Veronica halted her movements. “What, did you suck his dick?” 

“Oh my god, Veronica!! Have you no shame? What, you think I came back from the Ghoulies ready to jump his bones?” Betty laughed, embarrassed by Veronica’s extremely direct questions. Betty knew all about Veronica’s after school activities with Archie, Veronica sparing no detail, but Betty, still new to all of this, still blushed every time the topic came up. 

“What?!” Veronica said defensively, “trauma brings people together! Come on B, you watch all the same movies I do. After an intense situation, there’s sex. I was just asking, geez. So if that didn’t happen, what did?” 

“I told him I loved him. And he said he loved me back” Betty said, not bothering to hide the giant smile forming over her face. 

“Oh my god, swoon” Veronica said, “that is way better than you sucking his dick”.

“VERONICA” Betty squealed, causing both of the girls to burst into a fit of giggles so loud, it caught the boys’ attention. 

“Hey, what are you girls laughing about in there?” they heard Archie yell, even with the bathroom door closed. The girls immediately started laughing harder and this time it was Jughead who spoke.  
“I want in on the joke” Jughead yelled, and Veronica peaked her head out of the door. 

“No can do, lover boy” Veronica said, causing Betty to scream her name, again, while Veronica closed the door, still laughing. 

“Lover boy, huh?” Joaquin said to Jughead. 

“Yeah, I love that girl” Jughead said, not really caring if that made him sound weak, or whipped, or whatever. He loved Betty Cooper and he really didn’t care who knew it. 

“Good for you, Jones” Joaquin said, smiling at his best friend, happy to see him happy, especially after the warning Jughead gave them earlier. He was glad Jughead had something to hold onto. Joaquin thought of Kevin, their flirty banter making him smirk, glad that he also had someone in his life, even if things were about to get super dangerous for all of them. 

“You know what this means now, right? Endless double dates, and our girlfriends swapping stories”, Archie groaned. 

“Hate to break it to you, Archie, but uh, why do you think they were laughing in there? They already do that” Jughead said, causing Archie’s face to go pale, and Sweet Pea and Joaquin to laugh. 

“Damn, are you really that clueless about girls?” Sweet Pea asked. 

“Apparently” Archie grumbled. 

In the bathroom, Veronica was adding the finishing touches to Betty’s face, pleased with her work.  
“There” Veronica said, setting down the makeup brush. 

Betty turned around, and looked at herself in the mirror. Veronica was a miracle worker. Her skin looked clear, and while her face did look extremely cakey from all the foundation, it was better than walking around with a bruise. The swelling in her eye was still there, but with the amount of eyeshadow and eyeliner Veronica had applied, it didn’t look super noticeable. “God, V, I don’t know how to thank you. This stuff must have been expensive, please let me pay you back”. 

Veronica shushed her. “No. Things have been tight with Daddy gone but I assure you, this didn’t break the bank. Besides, I felt so helpless all night, not knowing if you were okay. I wanted to do this. I’m here for you, always, B. No matter what. If I can help you at all, let me know, please”. 

Betty hugged her best friend, and thanked her one last time. “Oh, I almost forgot! I brought some clothes for you to borrow, just in case”. She handed Betty a pair of black jeans and a dark blue sweater, a perfect combination of the two girls’ style. Betty placed her hand on top of Veronica’s. God help anyone who ever tried to mess with B and V. 

Veronica left the bathroom, leaving Betty to change. She plopped into Archie’s lap on the couch, holding his hand, forever grateful he returned to her back in one piece. They had yet to exchange the same words that Betty and Jughead had, but she cared for him, and he cared for her. They just had different ways of showing it. 

When Betty returned from the bathroom, Jughead’s jaw dropped. She was gorgeous with or without makeup, in pink pastels or her vixens uniform, but Jughead couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked right now. The dark blue of the sweater, the gold around her eyes and her thick lashes made her green eyes shine like jewels. The dark jeans hugging her curves just right. He felt guilty for thinking this way, knowing the reason she was wearing all of this makeup, but he was still a teenage boy, and his hormones were winning at the moment. 

“Here, let me get that for you Jones, you got a little drool there” Joaquin said, coming to wipe Jughead’s chin. Jughead swatted his hand away and Betty blushed, while everyone else in the room giggled. 

‘Oh, quit it, DeSantos” Jughead said, walking over to Betty, and wrapping his arm around her. He smirked at her, and the look on his face told her everything. When things calmed down and they were alone, he would show her how beautiful he thought she was. 

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been up since the crack of dawn cleaning at the bar, and could really use a bite to eat” Sweet Pea announced. 

“You know me” Jughead said, “always down for food”. 

“We haven’t eaten either” Archie said, arms still wrapped around Veronica. 

“Pop’s?” Betty suggested. 

“Good choice, Cooper” Joaquin said, “let’s go kids, I’ll drive”. 

The drive to Pop’s was loud, all of them screaming along to Mr. Brightside by the Killers because that was the type of song where it didn’t matter matter what type of music you liked, you knew all the words to that song. They were horrible, and off key, but they didn’t care. 

They pulled up to Pop’s, and the others walked into the diner while Jughead pulled Betty back, the two of them staying outside. 

“I know we still have a lot to figure out, and that we’re all still in trouble with the Ghoulies, and of course there’s the C word, but maybe this afternoon we can just pretend to be normal teenagers? No Serpent drama? Just us, our friends, sharing milkshakes at Pop’s” Jughead said to her, brushing her hair behind her ear. 

After everything Betty had gone through in the past 24 hours, she deserved to have one drama free afternoon. She nodded, and Jughead leaned down to kiss her. The soft kiss quickly turned passionate, as their hands gripped each other, neither of them wanting to let go. It was Betty who broke the kiss, only to come up for air. 

“Let’s go inside before everyone notices” Jughead said, but when Betty walked in and caught a wink from Veronica, and Jughead was met by Joaquin’s infamous smirk, they knew they were too late, making Betty blush and Jughead laugh. He would never get tired of seeing her cheeks turn rosy. 

They did as Jughead suggested, enjoying a peaceful meal, sharing jokes and many laughs while the sun shone bright through the windows at Pop’s. Pop came over and cleared their table, and the ding of the bell above the door cause Betty to turn her head, only she wished she hadn’t. 

Her green eyes locked with brown ones, accompanied by a smug smile over his lips. Chuck Clayton had just walked into Pop’s, and he was looking right at her.


	14. Blossom Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead and Betty begin a plan, while Jason confides in Cheryl.

Betty froze, the smile on her face disappearing immediately. Chuck walked over to the counter, placing his order with Pop. Betty couldn’t help the look of disgust coloring her features as Chuck played Pop with his manners and golden boy smile. Betty knew who he really was, and what he was really capable of. 

Taunting Betty, Chuck waved over to their table as he waited for his order. Archie got out of the booth to say hey, completely oblivious to everything that Chuck had put her through. Normally, Betty’s first instinct would be to clench her fists. This time, with Jughead next to her, she grasped his hand instead, squeezing, her entire focus on Chuck. She hadn’t heard Veronica call her name three times. 

“BETTY” Veronica said, a little more forcefully this time, finally causing Betty to break her gaze. “What are you staring at?” 

Jughead looked at Betty with nothing but concern, and when he looked down to see her hand gripping onto his so tightly, he was immediately put on edge. 

“Betts, what’s wrong?” he asked her, searching her eyes. 

Betty shook her head, trying to play it cool. “Yeah, sorry, I was looking at the clock and I just remembered that I promised my mom I would be home early today so she’s gonna freak if I don’t get home soon”. 

“Yikes” Veronica said, “Hell hath no fury like Alice Cooper pissed. You better get movin”. 

Jughead looked at her, not buying her lie one bit. But, he had been the only one to see her hand. He squeezed back, pulling her out of the booth. “Come on, I’ll walk you home” Jughead said, lacing their fingers together as they stood by the booth. He could tell something was wrong and he began rubbing circles with his thumb on her hand to comfort her. 

“I should probably get home too. Could you please drive Archie and me back to my car?” Veronica asked Joaquin. 

“No problem” Joaquin replied. “I’ll swing by here later to pick you up, Jones”. 

“Thanks, man” Jughead said with a small smile. 

After saying goodbye, Betty tried to rush her and Jughead out the door but Archie of course, stopped them. “You guys taking off?” he asked them. 

“Yeah, Betty needs to get home” Jughead answered, when he realized Betty wasn’t going to. She had her eyes locked on the boy next to Archie, a boy Jughead didn’t recognize. 

“You look good, Cooper” Chuck said, a sly smile on his face. 

“Thanks” Betty replied, as sweetly as she could manage in that moment, cringing at how off her voice sounded. 

Betty squeezed Jughead’s hand tighter in response, and pulled him out the door, not caring about a confused Archie she left standing by Chuck. When they were finally out the door, Betty could finally feel like she could breathe. She needed a second to calm down, so her and Jughead wordlessy walked towards her house, until Jughead couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Okay Betts, I was trying to give you time but I really can’t wait any longer. What happened back there? Who was that guy?” 

Betty sighed. “That was Chuck Clayton”. 

Jughead stopped walking. “Are you kidding me? He seriously had the nerve to talk to you as if nothing happened? What a fucking prick”. 

“I think he was testing me, to see if I told anyone. Archie was still acting cool with him, and I knew if I told you in the diner who he was it would have been harder for you to control yourself. I needed him to think I kept my promise, and I think it worked. But I couldn’t stay there, Juggie. I couldn’t just sit there and pretend, I just needed to get out of there”. 

Jughead pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, baby. You were right. I would have given it away. Even now, I wanna run back there and beat his brains out. I hate what he did to you”. 

Betty hugged him tighter. “I don’t wanna be scared anymore, Jug. I don’t wanna always be looking over my shoulder at school, or feel like I can’t go anywhere. Pop’s is our place, and I don’t want him to ruin that”. 

Jughead’s heart was sinking with every word she spoke, while his anger was spiking. This is exactly what he didn’t want. He didn’t want Betty caught up in the Southside mess and in danger. But in the end, it hadn’t been Jughead who put her here. It had been Jason. Now that their quiet afternoon was ruined, Jughead was ready to make a plan to help the girl he loved. 

“We’ll figure it out, Betts. I promise you” Jughead said, while he placed a kiss on her forehead. “I think we should start with Jason”. 

Betty nodded. “Okay”. 

***  
Jason stood outside of his father’s study, trying to gather up the courage to knock on the door. After everything that happened with Betty last night, he couldn’t risk something worse. He knew what he was about to do was going to change his life forever. Debts weren’t so easily settled with his father. 

Cheryl came down the stairs, her face perplexed at her brother standing outside the door. 

“Has the prodigal son finally come to daddy for help?” she teased. 

“Not in the mood right now, Cher” Jason snapped. 

“What the hell has your panties in a twist?” Cheryl snapped back. Cheryl was nasty to everyone, but between her and Jason it was always light hearted fun. There was no one she loved more in the world than her brother. 

Jason sighed. “Look Cher, there’s a good chance I’m about to walk in there and sell my soul to the devil to get out of a mess I’m in, a mess I created to avoid having to do exactly this, yet here I fucking am” Jason chuckled. “Maybe it was always supposed to be this way, and I was too dumb to think I could have a different life”. 

Cheryl dropped her attitude at her brother’s somber tone. This was serious. “Jason...what did you do?” 

“It doesn’t even matter right now, Cher. I need money, and there’s only one person in this house who has it”. 

“No” Cheryl said. She knew about Jason’s dreams and supported every one of them. Her father needed someone for the family business, and Cheryl was prepared to take her brother’s place in that. Jason was the smart one, the ambitious one, the kind one. People might fear Cheryl and the Blossom name, but the town genuinely loved Jason. A thing Cheryl knew she would never earn. Her brother was everything she wasn’t, and she would be damned if she was just going to sit by and watch him throw it away. 

“Talk to me first, Jason. Maybe we can figure it out. How much money do you need?” She asked him, pulling him away from the door in case their father could hear. 

“Here’s the thing. I don’t really know. I for sure owe the Serpents $5,000, and I might owe the Ghoulies $10,000, depending on how well they take the events of last night…”

“Why the fuck do you owe those snakes money?” 

“Easy, Cher. Don’t be so quick to hate them. I was in a fucked up situation, and I put them in the middle of it, and they didn’t even hesitate to help me out. It was probably because it involved Betty, but either way, they saved my ass”. 

“Okay, back the fuck up. Betty Cooper is involved? Start from the beginning, please”. 

“I was selling Jingle Jangle from the Ghoulies to try and get some money so that I wouldn’t need a thing from dad and Polly and I could leave after graduation. Some guys were late paying, and when I didn’t have the money right away, they tried to go after Polly but grabbed Betty by mistake. They somehow found out she wasn’t Polly, and they knew she was dating Jughead, so they asked for more money when I went in with the original $5,000 I owed them. Archie, Reggie, Moose, Jughead, and some more Serpents and I took the guys down, and broke Betty out of there, but Cher, they hit her. And if it wasn’t for the mistake, they would have hit Polly. I feel sick to my stomach. I put her through that. All because I was too afraid to stand up to my father”. 

Cheryl just stood there, staring at her brother. He was involved with something dark and deep, and it broke her heart. 

“Anyway, that’s why I owe the Serpents money”. 

“Okay...but it seems to me that they’re in trouble because of who Betty decides to associate herself with these days. They took advantage of that situation, that has nothing to do with you”. 

“Are you serious, Cher?! I put her in there. They gave me the initial $5,000 of a debt that I, not Betty, not them, owed. I have to pay them back”. 

“Agreed, pay them back. But not a penny more. They wanted more money after finding out who Betty was, and that has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with Betty. I know Polly is your girlfriend, but that’s where your loyalty ends. Honestly, J, why didn’t you come to me sooner? I could have gotten you the money”. 

“I didn’t want to put you in danger too”. 

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “It’s always been me and you, against daddy, against mommy, against the world. Let me fix this. I’ll get the money from daddy. He’ll never have to know it was you”. 

“Cher, I can’t ask you to do that. I think it’s about time I start cleaning up my own messes”. 

“Oh sweet brother, you’ve never even held a broom in your life. You want USC, and Polly, and a life away from Riverdale. You should get everything that you want. Just go to your room, and I’ll have a conversation with daddy, okay?” 

Cheryl shooed him up the stairs before turning her attention back to her father’s study. Now that Jason was gone, her calm, collected act could drop. She was absolutely livid, and honestly, ready to kill her father. 

She burst through the door, taking in the sight of her father writing something down at his desk. 

“Oh Cheryl, no need for dramatics. What is it that you need?”. 

“Did you know that the other dealer on the Northside was Jason?” Cheryl asked through gritted teeth. 

“Of course” her father replied, not even looking up. 

“But I thought that’s why we have Chuck. When we had the meeting about supplies with Mr. Clayton, we agreed that Chuck would become the Northside supplier. 

“Yes” her father answered, “but that was before Jason got involved on his own. He’s been making us a fortune, and I knew if he found out that our family business had nothing to do with maple syrup, he would run away as far as he could. Little does he know he’s been helping the Blossom fortune this whole time” Clifford Blossom gave Cheryl the most evil smile. 

“We agreed. You said that if I helped with the business, Jason didn’t have to. God, did you order the kidnap on Polly too?” 

“Yes” he replied, with no remorse in his tone. “He might be my son, but he still owed a debt. Kid has to learn somehow”. 

“You are unbelievable,” Cheryl said, a single tear streaming down her face. 

“What? They were never going to hurt the girl” Clifford responded. 

“Do you honestly believe that?” 

His silence was her answer. 

“Well, Jason borrowed money from the Serpents, to pay the debt he owes to you, and your little minions didn’t kidnap Polly, they kidnapped--”

“I’m well aware of what happened last night Cheryl, thank you” Clifford said, cutting her off. “Who do you think told them to ask for more money? I wanted to bleed those snakes dry”. 

“Did you see the bruises on your son’s face? Did you order them to hit him too?” 

“Well, I had to make it believable, sweetie. Jason couldn’t know that his father was running the Jingle Jangle empire, now could he?”

“All of this...for money?” Cheryl asked. 

“It’s the only thing in the world I love” Clifford answered, and Cheryl felt like she had been stabbed in the gut. 

“I’m out” Cheryl said. “Write me a check for $5,000, and I am out. This is the last thing I do for the Blossom business”. 

“Tsk Tsk, sweetie. You know the rules. If you’re out, Jason is in, and I am not paying those snakes a damn penny”

Another tear escaped. He was right. She was the one who had been attending meetings, and making decisions since she was sixteen. This was her future, not Jason’s. She couldn’t leave, even if she wanted to. 

“Write me the check. Or I expose Chuck”. 

“You wouldn’t”. 

“You put the one person I love in danger. I don’t give a damn about the business, I don’t give a damn about you. Jason is my family, and he doesn’t deserve this. Write me the check, and I’ll pretend none of this happened. Chuck will stay unknown, I will make sure Betty Cooper doesn’t say a damn word. I’m assuming that’s how you found out she wasn’t Polly, right?” Clifford nodded. “I will protect everything, but only if you let Jason leave”. 

Clifford went to hand her the check, but held onto it a little, while looking Cheryl in the eye. “You stay”, he said firmly. 

“Yes, daddy”, was all Cheryl said as she walked out the door, sealing her fate. 

Jason had hugged his sister when she handed over the check. Her eyes were serious when she told him to stop his involvement with the Ghoulies. He didn’t know what she did or said to get the money, but he knew it couldn’t have been easy. His thank you would be to stop dealing, this time for good. 

Jason picked up his phone and texted Jughead.

Jason: I got your money, Jones. I promise I’m done. For good. 

Jughead: Meet me and Betty tomorrow after school? 

Jason: See you there after we’re done with practice. 

Jughead: Sounds good. 

***  
Jughead had ended up taking Betty home after Pop’s. It was Sunday and Betty claimed that she actually did need to do homework, and wanted to think about something normal for once. He reluctantly said goodbye, and walked back to Pop’s, waiting for Joaquin to pick him up. Thankfully, Chuck was gone. 

He was laying in bed, drifting off to sleep when he saw he had a text from Jason. After responding, he looked at the clock. It was 11:30pm, but he knew Betty would be up. 

Jughead: Hey, Betts. We’re meeting Jason tomorrow after your practice. He says he has the money. 

Betty: That was fast. 

Jughead: That’s what I was thinking. We’ll get our answers when we talk.

Betty: Okay. At least I’ll get to see you tomorrow *red heart emoji*

Jughead smiled at that. 

Jughead: I love you, Betty Cooper. Don’t work too hard, and try to get some sleep. Call me if you need anything. 

Betty: I love you too, Jughead Jones. Goodnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I really don't know how I feel about this chapter so any feedback on it, or the direction of the story, would be extremely helpful. I have some ideas but I never know if they're good enough and would love to talk it out with someone. If anyone is willing, please message me on tumblr @killmongerforever. 
> 
> Thank you so much for everyone still reading and commenting. Your comments and encouraging words mean more than you know!!!


	15. Hot and Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason learns about the family business, and things heat up between Betty and Jughead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning: light smut ahead! 
> 
> Happy reading!

The day had gone by incredibly fast, and for that Betty was grateful. She had to wake up an hour earlier this morning to apply the pound of makeup to her face in order to cover her bruise and as if her classes and vixens practice weren’t exhausting enough, Cheryl had asked Betty to run laps by herself. In all honesty, Betty was happy too, which only pissed Cheryl off more. 

Betty had blocked out the world. The vixens were changing in the locker room and the football team was finishing up their last play, their practices a little longer with the state championship coming up. Even though Cheryl had left, Betty kept running. Paramore was screaming into her ears, her feet pounding on the track, the wind burning her face but she didn’t care. This past weekend, she had felt powerless and weak. Throughout practice, Chuck would look over at her running and it would make Betty’s head want to explode. So she ran harder, trying to gain some control again. It started to rain, but Betty didn’t care. She welcomed the cool water on her face, finding it refreshing as she finished another lap around the track, the big water droplets blending in with the tears on her face. Thank God for the setting spray Veronica had thought to buy otherwise Betty’s bruises would be showing. She didn’t know what to do. About Chuck, about Jason, about anything. She just kept running, until she saw a leather jacket leaning against the bleachers, beanie gone for once, clutched into his left hand while his right pushed back the wet hair dangling into his piercing blue eyes. 

Betty didn’t think. She wanted to feel good and one thing that always made her feel good was Jughead. Before he could notice her red puffy eyes and before the aching in her muscles began she ran right over to him and planted a strong, deep kiss on his lips. Jughead picked her up and swung her around, making Betty giggle. They were both soaking wet and should be shivering but in that moment, Betty was warm all over. 

Jughead put her down, cradled her face and kissed her again. Betty pushed him until they were underneath the bleachers and covered from the rain. The fact that they were supposed to meet Jason completely gone from their minds as their tongues met and their hands roamed. Jughead’s hands found their way to Betty’s waist, her ass, gripping it and pulling her closer while Betty tangled hers into his hair. Her body was right up against his and Jughead knew if they kept at this, he wouldn’t want to stop. 

Betty shivered, and this time it wasn’t because Jughead’s teeth had found their way to her earlobe. She was in shorts and a sweater and the breeze that just swept past them made Jughead realize just how cold the rain really was. He tried to back away but then Betty tugged his hair, and she bit into his bottom lip slowly pulling it and Jughead lost all of his senses. He bit hers back, and the moan that escaped her lips had Jughead unraveling. If she was okay making out in the cold, he was definitely okay with it. 

Their urgent kisses eventually slowed, reality slowly coming back to Betty. With one last, slow, sensual kiss, Betty pulled away only far enough to lean her elbows against Jughead’s chest while he wrapped his arms around her waist. He gave her a soft peck on her cheek and the look of love Betty saw in his eyes made her forget all about the trouble that seemed to follow them. 

“Not that I mind, at all, Betts, but why the sudden attack on me?” Jughead asked, removing one of his hands to wipe a wet strand of hair off her face. 

“I just missed you” she answered, placing her head on his shoulder as they shifted into a hug. Jughead swayed them a little as he whispered in her ear, “I always miss you”, making Betty smile. 

She shivered again and Jughead squeezed her tighter before releasing her. “Come on, let’s get you changed and then we’ll find Jason”. 

“Fine. But only if we can finish this later” Betty said, biting her bottom lip. 

“Betty Cooper, those are my second favorite words you’ve ever said to me”. 

“What are the first?”

“I love you”. 

“I love you too, Juggie Jones” and Jughead chuckled at that, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple as they walked towards the school. 

Jughead waited outside the girl’s locker room while Betty changed. It was starting to get darker faster, a sign that fall was ending and soon Riverdale would be covered in a blanket of snow. Jughead was left in the shadows of the empty hallway when he heard voices. He recognized one, and he turned and hid behind a wall of lockers before he did something he would regret. 

“She hasn’t said anything” Chuck angrily whispered, “If she hasn’t by now, I don’t think she will. I think we’re in the clear”. 

“Please” Cheryl scoffed, “Betty writes for the Blue and Gold, if you think she’s just going to drop the fact that you’re a Ghoulie than you’re more stupid than I thought”. 

“Hey” Chuck warned, “this ‘stupid’ guy has been making you and your father money all year, so that your precious brother Jason could go off and live his fairytale life”. 

Jughead held his breath, scared to make even the smallest noise that would scare them away. Jason’s family was selling Jingle Jangle? His sister and father were Ghoulies? Did Jason know? If he did, Jughead was going to kill him. 

“Don’t pretend you did this for Jason” Cheryl shot back. “You needed money for college. It’s not my fault you failed Algebra. Twice”. 

“Yeah, well, we all can’t be born with a rich daddy can we? One who leaves us an entire empire?” 

“A drug empire! Do you really think I would be doing this if I had a choice?” Cheryl practically screamed. The whispers long forgotten. 

“Doing what?” a different voice asked. Betty had come out of the locker room, and while Jughead didn’t want her anywhere near Chuck, he couldn’t exactly let them know that he had been listening all along. 

“Mind your own business, Betty” Cheryl snapped at her. Cheryl’s angry expression turned to one of fear when she saw Jason walk out of the boy’s locker room. 

“Hey Cher. Chuck” he nodded his head at him. He could feel the tension in the room. “Am I interrupting something?” he asked, looking from Betty to Cheryl and Chuck. 

“No, you didn’t” Chuck spoke. “Cheryl and I were just leaving” and with that, they walked out the back door. 

“Do you think they’re dating?” Jason asked, almost laughing. 

“No, they’re selling Jingle Jangle” Jughead said, appearing from behind the lockers. 

“Bullshit. Cheryl would never”. 

“Jug, how long were you hiding there?” Betty asked him. 

“Long enough to hear that Chuck is selling Jingle Jangle for your sister and your father, and your sister is taking over the business so that you don’t have to” Jughead said to Jason. “Did you know? When you were dealing Jingle Jangle did you know it was for your family?”. 

“No”, it was one word, but the way Jason said it broke Betty’s heart. 

“Then how all of a sudden are you just able to pay me back $5,000 which you never had before?” 

“Cheryl talked to my dad. She said she would handle it. I never thought...I mean...I never would have let her had I known what she was doing...I never would have sold it if I knew…” Jason was truly at a loss for words. “I can’t let her do this. Why should I get everything while she’s forced to stay here?”. 

“Well, maybe you both can” Betty said. 

“How, Betty?! Clearly my family does more than sell maple syrup! How do I expose that while not sending my sister to jail?”. 

“It does nothing if you take her place, Jason. If you do, then everything you’ve done up to this point is for nothing. Cheryl would also never let you, so then what? You both sell drugs for daddy? Or maybe you both can end it. You can both be free” Betty explained. She may not be Cheryl’s biggest fan, but she was clearly willing to do anything to help her brother, the same way Betty would for Polly. She couldn’t just overlook that. 

“It’s not that simple, Betty. And again, how?”. 

“We take down the Ghoulies” Jughead said. 

“We?” Jason asked. 

“Yes. We. The Serpents have been given a bad rep because of the Ghoulies for years, and my father always said stay out of it. Be above it. But they made it personal. They went after Betty. Your own father was going to have your girlfriend kidnapped, Jason. You’re telling me you don’t want revenge for that?”. 

Jughead’s words sparked a fire inside Jason, burning as red as his hair. He was starting to make sense of everything. 

“Wait a minute” Jason said, “Chuck was here with Cheryl. He’s a part of this too? He’s a Ghoulie?!”. 

“I didn’t tell you Jason, but...Chuck is the one who told the Ghoulies that I wasn’t Polly. He was the one who hit me” Betty spoke quietly. “He told me if I told anyone, that he would start hurting the people I care about”. 

Jason punched the locker. “I fucking congratulated him today on a nice throw, and he’s the one who hurt you Betty? One of the guys who was gonna attack Polly? My teammate?! And he’s the one helping drag my sister down further? Fuck it, I’m with you.. The Ghoulies are done”. 

Betty couldn’t help the fear bubbling up inside of her. A war between the North and Southside was bad enough, but now there was going to be a war between the Southside rivals, and Betty knew that was even more dangerous. She unconsciously walked over to Jughead and held his hand. Jughead looked down at her, her green eyes betraying her and her emotions showing loud and clear. He squeezed back, and then looked at Jason. 

“Tomorrow night. Whyte Wyrm. We’re talking to my dad. Bring your Bulldogs” Jughead said. 

Jason smiled. “You got it, Jones”. 

Jason offered to drive them both home, but Betty stated she didn’t want to go home, and Jughead remembered her promise of “later”, and directed Jason to his trailer. Betty had called her mother and told her she was studying at Veronica’s for a test, followed by a text to Veronica to cover for her. 

They were barely inside Jughead’s trailer before Betty’s lips attacked Jughead once again. And just like earlier, Jughead picked up Betty, her legs coming together around his waist as Jughead pushed her body into the cabinets on his counter. His clothes were still damp from the rain, and he had no complaints as Betty pulled the shirt over his head. Hers was next, and Jughead wondered if this was okay, but as he trailed kisses down her neck, biting her skin, her moans growing louder, he took that as his yes. But if that wasn’t enough for him to keep going, her next words were. 

“Make me feel good, Juggie” she whispered into his ear, before licking the sensitive skin behind his ear. He didn’t know when Betty became so confident in her sexuality, but damn, did he love it. He picked her up again, carrying her to his bedroom before setting her down on the bed. He took in her heaving breasts, spilling over her pink lace bra, and teasingly ran his fingers over them. He ran his fingers gently over her hips, the soft touch making Betty giggle, as she was extremely ticklish. 

“I love that sound” Jughead said, before placing a kiss right underneath her navel. He pulled down her leggings, and trailed kisses up her thigh. Betty was squirming, and she was almost embarrassed by how desperate her noises sounded. But then Jughead leaned over, and kissed her deeply while he slid his fingers down her panties, finding her already wet. 

“Mmmm, Betts. Are you sure?” he asked her, searching her eyes for any apprehension, or confusion but he could only see one thing. Love. She nodded, and Jughead began rubbing slow circles over her clit, and Betty swore she never felt anything more amazing in her life. That is, until Jughead stuck a finger inside of her, and began pumping in and out. She whimpered, and he was suddenly nervous he was hurting her. 

“Does that feel good?”

“Sooo good, Juggie”. 

So he added another finger, while his thumb kept rubbing circles, and Betty begged him not to stop. He removed his hand, and she was about to protest, but then she felt his hands drag her panties down her legs and his tongue replaced his thumb while his fingers still pumped in and out and Betty started to feel a warmth in her stomach, and her muscles tighten. She had never felt anything like this before, and she didn’t care where he learned it, she was just so happy he listened to her when she asked him to make her feel good. It didn’t take much longer after that until Betty felt the warmth spread from her toes all the way up her body, and Jughead felt her clench her muscles around his fingers. Her hands that were gripping were the sheets moved to his hair as she came down from her very first orgasm, slowly playing with the locks. Jughead crawled back up to her, grabbed a towel from his bedside drawer before wiping her clean and throwing it in the hamper in his room. 

“Convenient location, that is” Betty said with a giggle. 

“I’ve spent a lot of lonely nights in this bed” Jughead replied, kissing her lightly. Betty giggled again. He was still in his jeans, but Betty could feel how hard he was as he grinded his hips against hers. She couldn’t believe that even after what she just experienced, she still wanted more. She sat up and began to unbuckle his belt, while Jughead unclasped her bra. She had never been fully naked in front of anyone before, but she felt safe with Jughead. She was about to slide her hand down his jeans when Jughead pushed her back, and began massaging her breasts, her nipples peaked because of his touch and the cool air, the most amazing combination of hot and cold. Her hands found his belt again, and just as Jughead was about to press his mouth on her chest and Betty was about to set him free from his jeans, they heard the door unlock. 

“Jughead? You home?” 

Jughead’s eyes widened and Betty’s whole body flushed red as they started scrambling for their clothes before FP could find them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please comment, kudos, or message me on tumblr @killmongerforever. Your kind words mean the world <3 I love hearing what you think!
> 
> Also, if you haven't read my new fic where Jughead and Betty meet on the first day of NYU law school, please go check out "love and the law" and let me know what you think!


	16. Admit It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FP catches Betty and Jughead at the most unfortunate time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry this took so long, but now that I'm settled in school again I hope it won't be another month for a new update. 
> 
> Happy reading :)

Jughead looked down to see a wide eyed Betty staring up at him, one question evident in her eyes. What the fuck do we do?

“Jug?” FP asked again, and Jughead tried to open his mouth to speak but nothing was coming out. He and Betty remained frozen, neither of them having been in this position before. 

“You sleeping?” FP’s voice was getting closer, and just as he reached for the knob to open Jughead’s room, Jughead pulled it open, just enough to let his body through, keeping Betty completely shielded. 

“Sorry dad, I had my headphones on”. 

“Homework?” 

“Yeah, studying for a test” 

“Which class?” 

“Anatomy” Jughead said, unable to control the smirk on his face. Inside the room, Betty bit into the pillow to keep her giggles from being heard. 

“That’s my boy” FP replied. “I was just stopping by to pick up the cash you got back from Jason”. Jughead silently cursed himself for not dropping it off in the first place, that way this whole awkward encounter could have been avoided. 

“It’s gonna be a late night at the Wyrm for me, so I figured you could just order pizza”. He handed Jug a $20 bill and Jughead thanked him. 

FP could tell something off with his son. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, of course, Dad. By the way, Jason and some friends are stopping by the Wyrm tomorrow night. We’ve got some business to discuss”. 

FP gave Jughead a wary look, but nodded. 

“Why is your hair all wet if you were studying?” 

“Oh, I just showered”. 

FP didn’t buy it, looking Jughead up and down. 

“Whatever you say, Jug. Just save me a slice this time, please?”

“No promises”. 

FP chuckled. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then”

“Have a good night, dad”. 

FP turned around, walking back towards the front door, calling over his shoulder, “Night, Jug. You have a good night too, Betty”. 

Jughead couldn’t see Betty, but he was willing to bet she was bright red from head to toe. 

FP quite enjoyed the look of complete shock on his son’s face as he turned back around. He gave a small laugh. “I told you kid, it’s in your eyes. But this time, it was in your pants”. 

Jughead didn’t know what to say, so he just closed the door and turned around. Betty had the blanket wrapped over her, and they both avoided eye contact, the awkward tension in the room getting thicker. Their eyes finally met, and Betty giggled, making Jughead smile. Her giggles turned into a laughing fit and Jughead joined in, the humor of the situation overriding the nervousness they both just felt. 

Betty flopped back down with a sigh, and Jughead hopped back on the bed. They turned to face each other, both beaming. 

“Should we…” she began, “I mean, we didn’t, well, you didn’t….” now that the moment had passed, her nerves were setting in and she began to feel bashful. 

“Shhh….it’s okay, Betts. I’ll be fine”. 

“Are you sure?” she asked, she wasn’t really sure what the protocol was for things like this. Were there rules? Was she breaking them? She didn’t think it was fair that only she got to experience that tonight. 

He pulled her closer, kissing her nose. “I’m positive”. 

They laid there for another hour, happy just to hold each other in silence, lost in their thoughts and their love. Jughead stroked her hair, and Betty trailed her fingers up and down his arm. Betty was so warm and satisfied, she began to fall asleep. 

“Betty, it actually pains me to say this, but you should go. We have school tomorrow and I really don’t want to get you in trouble. It’s almost ten”. 

“IT IS?! Jug, that’s my curfew!” She flew off him, and began to gather her clothes. Still covered by the blanket, she sat on the bed and pulled on her panties and jeans. She got up to try and find the rest. 

“Where did you throw my bra?!” she asked with a panicked giggle. If she was even one minute late, she’d be grounded for a month. 

She turned around to see Jughead holding it off the edge of his finger, a self-righteous look on his face. 

She still had the blanket around her, and as she walked over to grab it, he held it high above her head. 

“Really, Juggie? You just told me I had to go, please give it to me”.

“Yeah, but then I remembered you were naked, and I changed my mind”.

“Jug please, I seriously can’t be late”.

“Kiss me”. 

Still gripping the blanket around her, she gave him a quick peck on the lips. 

“Not good enough, Betts”.

She kissed him a little longer this time, and hoping he would be distracted, she reached for her bra, but Jughead was quicker. 

“Still not good enough”

“Juggie, pleeeeeaaaase” she whined. 

Jughead leaned down and kissed her with a passion so deep, it took her breath away. She dropped the blanket and wrapped her arms around his neck while he lowered his hands and pulled her bare chest to his, holding her tight. Her bra dropped to the floor, now forgotten. They pulled away gasping. 

“For the record” Jughead began between gasps, “that’s what I mean when I tell you to kiss me”. 

“Okay” Betty whispered, her breathing shaky, but a smile on her face. 

Jughead bent down to pick up her bra, letting it dangle off his finger again as he handed it to her, his cockiness returning. 

“You’re too smooth for your own good, Jughead Jones”. 

“You love it. Admit it” he said with a wink. 

Betty just shook her head and turned around to put on her bra. She was about to grab her shirt when Jughead wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her back to him. He kissed her shoulder and Betty sighed, too lost in the sensation to care about being late anymore. 

“Admit it” he whispered. 

“I love you” she whispered back. 

***  
Jughead finally let her get dressed, and drove her back home in his dad’s truck since FP decided to take the bike. He parked a block away, and Betty quickly kissed him goodbye before running to her house. She walked in at 10:05, a very angry Alice Cooper waiting by the door. 

“I trust your homework is done, Elizabeth?” 

“Of course” Betty lied. 

“Why are you late?”

“Smithers’s car was having some trouble, and it just took a little longer to get here. That’s all”. 

“Why did you wait until the last minute to leave?”

“I was chatting with Veronica and just lost track of time, geez, Mom”.

“Drop the attitude” Alice said sternly. “Rules are rules, you’re grounded for the week”

“Are you serious, mom?! I was five minutes late!”

“Make it two weeks”. 

Betty closed her mouth, cursing herself for letting her emotions get the better of her and talk back to her mom. 

“Whatever you say, mother”.

“Maybe this will teach you punctuality. Straight home from vixens practice, do you understand?” 

“Yes” Betty said, defeated. 

Betty slowly walked up the stairs. She walked past Polly’s room, but saw that her light was off. She wanted to talk to her sister but that would have to wait until morning. 

After a hot shower, and her vigorous skin care routine, Betty put on her pajamas, sat at her desk, and began working on her homework. It was hard to concentrate when her mind kept wandering to other things. Jason and Polly, Chuck and Cheryl, but even with all that going on, she was most distracted by Jughead. How his hands had felt on her, his kisses on her shoulder, his playful teasing and smug looks on his face. She shook her head at that last one. She did love it. She was chewing on her pen cap, eyes closed as she remembered the tingling warm sensation Jughead made her feel, when her phone vibrated next to her. 

Jughead: What’s the verdict?

Betty: Two weeks. 

Jughead: Ouch, that’s harsh. For five minutes?

Betty: I sort of got sassy and maybe landed myself more time in prison. 

Jughead: That’s my girl, full of fire ;) 

Betty smiled down at her phone. 

Jughead: Do your homework, Betty Cooper! I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I love you. 

Betty: I love you too. 

***  
Betty groaned as her alarm went off, wanting desperately to press snooze and go back to sleep. After getting ready, she walked downstairs to a big breakfast as usual, her mother, father, and Polly already seated at the table. 

“Late to breakfast as well, Elizabeth?” she heard her mother say as she went to grab a plate from the cabinet. 

Betty ignored her as she reached over and piled on her plate the rest of the bacon, only acknowledging her mother by looking at her and shoving a strip in her mouth. 

Polly giggled but was immediately silenced by the look on her mother’s face. 

“Elizabeth, what have we discussed about caloric intake?” 

Betty still remained silent, chewing on her bacon. 

Alice huffed, “What am I going to do with you two? Completely disregarding curfew, sneaking out, eating fat!” 

Betty’s eyes snapped up at the sneaking out comment, but was met by Polly’s gaze, the look on her face informing Betty that it wasn’t meant for her. 

“Since the two of you can’t seem to behave, you’re both grounded. I’ve almost half a mind to keep you off the Vixens as well, but I won’t, solely for the purpose of saving your college applications”. 

Betty and Polly shared another glance, and sat there in silence. 

“Well, would anyone have anything they like to add? HAL?” 

Hal Cooper looked up from his newspaper and gave the classic, “listen to your mother, girls”, earning an eye roll from all three Cooper women. 

As they left the house, Betty’s interrogation began. 

“You snuck out?” 

“Jason said he needed to talk to me last night, and that it was important. He told me everything, Betty. He was so so heartbroken about Cheryl. I didn’t know how to help him, I still don’t”. 

“Did he tell you about his plan with the Serpents?” 

“He told me they were going to make a plan, yes…” Polly halted her steps and grabbed Betty’s arm. 

“Betty, I don’t know if I want you near this anymore. Look what happened to you!”

“My bruises are healing, I’m fine”. 

“What if something happens again?” 

“Pol, I can’t leave. Not now. Whatever their plan is, it’s going to be big. And I can’t just walk away. I know things I shouldn’t know, and more than that, I love Jughead. I won’t walk away from him, or you!”

Polly smiled, “You love him”. 

Betty’s returning smile was involuntary, as if every fiber in her body lit up as she said, “Yes, and he loves me too”. 

“Have you…?” 

“Almost” Betty answered shyly, “last night. He...uh...well...”

“Just spit it out, Betty! It’s me!” 

“HetouchedmeandmyentirebodywasonfireanditwasthemostamazingthingI’veeverfelt” Betty gushed in one breath. 

Polly laughed. “It’s about damn time, Betty. You were so wound up before, Jughead. I’m glad he’s able to make you feel that. To make you feel happy”. 

“He does” Betty replied. After a slight pause, she asked, “are you still happy? With Jason?”. 

“I wish he had never gotten mixed up with JJ and I wish he never lied about it, but of course I still love him. Of course I still want to be with him. This stuff with his family is crazy intense, and the same way you want to be there for Jughead, I want to be there for Jason. We’re all just going to have to be very careful in how we handle things”. 

Betty nodded, and the girls dropped the conversation for now. They headed back to school and tried to pretend it was just a normal day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, please comment, kudos, or message me on tumblr @killmongerforever
> 
> thank you so much for reading :)


	17. Bulldogs Bark, Snakes Bite.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan gets set in motion, involving another Northside, Southside team up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone! i am SO SORRY it's been literal months since i updated. my second semester of school was wild, and overwhelming, and took most of my attention. but, IT'S SUMMER. i'm hoping i stay motivated enough to update within days instead of weeks this time. thank you so so much to everyone still interested and invested in this story! it's my first fic ever, and the amount of comments and kudos i've received truly means the world, and keeps me going. 
> 
> happy reading :)

Jason, Reggie, Moose, and Archie walked into the Whyte Wyrm as if they didn’t stand out in their bright blue and yellow varsity jackets. 

They walked past a row of Serpents lined up at the bar, earning snide comments and mean looks. 

A hand on Jason’s shoulder is the only thing that stopped them from heading by the pool tables where Jughead said to meet. 

“Where do you think you’re going, Blossom?” Tall Boy said, leering over Jason and his bulldogs. 

“Just here to meet some friends” Jason answered, his confidence unwavering. It was both a blessing and a curse that the Blossoms seemed to believe they were untouchable. He shrugged Tall Boy’s hand off him. 

Tall Boy laughed. “Friends? I really doubt that snakes and dogs mix”. 

Jughead came bounding down the stairs then. “As usual Tall Boy, you’re wrong”. 

“Keep running that mouth boy” Tall Boy stated, a fist forming. 

“And what?” Jughead teased. “Give it up, Tall Boy. They’re here because I asked them to be and frankly, you should be happy they’re here. The bulldogs are going to help with something you’ve been wanting for a long time”. 

“I don’t need any help from northsiders” Tall Boy said, squaring up to Reggie who now stood up straight, refusing to back down from a challenge. 

Serpents at the bar came behind Tall Boy, and Jason, Archie, Moose, and Jughead stepped up next to Reggie. You could smell the testosterone in the air. 

“Enough”. FP’s voice rang clear and loud from the top of the stairs. “Back down, everyone”. 

Reggie barked in Tall Boy’s face, and Jason pulled him back. “Reg, for real, stop”. 

“Everyone here?” FP asked Jughead.   
“Still waiting on DeSantos, Sweet Pea, and Fangs. They’re almost here”. 

“No Topaz?” 

Jughead’s eyes went dark. “No, no Topaz. I’m pretty sure she played a part in what happened to Betty, but that’s a conversation for a different day”. 

“If this is Serpent business, she has a right to be here” Tall Boy said. 

Jughead looked at his dad. Tall Boy had a point there. Despite what Toni may or may not have done to Betty, at the moment, she was still a Serpent. 

FP sighed, and Tall Boy smirked. “I’ll call her”. 

“No need, boys. I’m right here” Toni called from the door, Joaquin, Sweet Pea and Fangs behind her. “Did you really think you could have a Serpent meeting without me?” 

“I tried to stop her from coming in, Jones” Joaquin explained sympathetically. 

“It’s all good. She can probably help fill in some blanks” Jughead retorted, a look of pure hatred on his face as he stared down Toni. She didn’t look away, but Jughead saw the slightest tremor on her lips. 

“Alright, enough about baby Jones and Topaz’s love. What’s the deal with the northsiders?” Tall Boy asked, earning an eye roll from both Jughead and Toni. 

“Are you leading this meeting Tall Boy?” FP shot back. “No, so shut the hell up and listen for once. Jason, explain what you know”. 

Jason swallowed. He was about to openly admit to all the mistakes he had made getting involved with the Ghoulies, and he was scared of their reactions. But he also felt relieved. It would feel good to finally let go of everything he had been carrying around with him, the endless guilt, fear, and sadness that had been weighing him down. 

So he did. He started from the beginning, admitting to his horrible family, his fucked up father, his love for Polly, his debt to the Serpents, and his bond with his sister, who was now in danger because she was trying to protect him. He apologized for all of it, for tipping off the ghoulies, for putting Betty in danger, for making the Serpents a target. 

Jughead placed a hand on his shoulder, a sign of kindness and friendship that Jason felt he didn’t deserve and never expected. Jason wondered if he would have been so forgiving had Jughead gotten Polly kidnapped. But as anyone could see, it was the Serpent Prince who was the compassionate and kind old soul, not Riverdale’s golden boy. 

Jason nodded at him, a sign of thanks. And Jughead nodded back. The bro code lived on. 

“Sounds to me like you just wanna involve the Serpents to help you get revenge on daddy” Tall Boy spoke once Jason had finished. 

“Sounds to me like we just gained some extra boys to help us fight” FP interjected. 

 

“What do you mean?” Jughead asked. 

“It seems to me like we have a common goal” his father explained. “We all want the Ghoulies out of the picture, whatever the reasons may be. I know I said before we should just lay low, but the Ghoulies are doing too much damage. Maybe Tall Boy is right about one thing. Maybe it’s time we fight back”. 

Enthusiastic yells filled the bar as the Serpents became motivated by FP’s words. 

“I owe you a lot, Mr. Jones” Jason spoke. “Whatever the plan is, I’m in”. 

Sweet Pea hopped off of the stage and sauntered over, his face inches from Jason’s.   
“How do we know you and your goons won’t bail the last second? Bulldogs bark, but snakes bite. You ready for that?” 

Without hesitation, Jason answered, “Yes”. The rest of the football team made noises of agreement. 

Sweet Pea nodded in approval. His eyes narrowed, and he was definitely still skeptical of Jason, but Jason had just earned Sweet Pea’s respect. 

“Dad, do you really think we can win?”. 

“I think we’ve got a shot, as long as we keep the bulldogs as our secret weapon”. 

“Tall Boy, you good with this?” Jughead asked him. 

“It’s what I’ve been wanting for years, boy. A chance to defend ourselves. Take back our home. Exorcise those damn ghouls”. 

“I have an idea” Joaquin said. “We make a deal with the ghoulies. We tell them they can keep their half of the Southside, as long as they keep the jingle jangle out of the schools, both North and South”. 

“That’s like 90% of their clients, they’ll never go for it” Jason chimed in. 

“Exactly. But it’s better than us going guns blazing into Ghoulie territory. We say we want to make a deal with their leader in neutral territory, and he’ll probably be there with a few guys as backup. We show up with backup, AND the bulldogs in hiding, and there’s no way they beat us. We took down those Ghoulies when we went to save Betty, and I’m betting we can get them begging for mercy, and agreeing to our terms in minutes”. 

“I want to add Cheryl’s freedom as a condition”, said Jason. 

Joaquin nodded. Jughead smiled at his best friend. This whole situation made him nervous but of course Joaquin knew what to say to make Jug believe in the Serpents and their plan. His only remaining fear: telling Betty. 

FP cleared his throat to quiet down the murmurs of excitement as everyone processed Joaquin’s plan. 

“All those in favor of this plan, raise your hand”. 

Every single hand in the room rose. 

***

Everyone was getting ready to leave, and Jason and Jughead were mid-conversation when Toni walked up to Jughead. 

“So, we’re really doing this huh?” she asked. 

“WE’RE not doing anything” Jughead said. “I’m doing this with MY family, and MY friends, which after recent events, those categories don’t include you”. 

“Come on Juggie, I was just trying to save myself! They asked me if I knew a Polly, and they knew she had blonde hair and green eyes! They must have just assumed Betty was Polly”. 

“Or you told them she was”. 

“Do you really think I would do that to you?” 

“Toni, listen carefully” Jughead began, stepping closer and towering over her small frame. He was past the point of livid, that Jughead Jones was calm. His voice was slow and lethal. 

“Never call me Juggie again. In fact, never call me anything again. There’s not a doubt in my mind you handed over Betty to the Ghoulies, and for that, you’re dead to me. We might be called the Serpents, but you’re actually a snake”. 

“A snake who’s gonna go to bat for you, just like I always do. No matter how many times you push me away”. 

“Read my fucking lips, Toni Topaz. As far as I’m concerned, you no longer exist”. 

Jughead heard Jason call his name, and then turned and left, leaving Toni scorned and fuming, again. 

***  
Jughead and Jason were standing outside the Cooper house that night, preparing to tell their girlfriends they were going off to battle. A blue and yellow jacket on Jason’s shoulders, and a jet black one on Jughead’s would have one believe that they were on opposite sides of the war, but that assumption couldn’t be more wrong. 

“You ring the bell” Jason said. 

“Why me?” Jughead responded, “it was your idea to fight”. 

“Actually, it was your father’s”. 

“I’m still not ringing that bell. Betty is gonna flip shit when we tell her”. 

“Polly too. They’ll probably want to help”

“No way” Jughead said firmly. “Betty goes nowhere near the Ghoulies”. 

“Agreed. Neither does Polly. So, should we even tell them?”

“We definitely should”. 

“Okay, you’re right”. 

“Sooo…..are you gonna ring the bell?”

“Nope” Jason said, emphasizing the “p” with a pop. 

“But we love them. We should tell them”.

“You love Betty? Does she know?” 

“She said it first” Jughead answered with a smile. 

“No shit. Congrats, dude”. 

“Thanks, dude”, Jughead mocked. 

“So have you guys like….” 

“Okay, you know what, I’m ringing the bell” Jughead said quickly. 

Jason chuckled as the doorbell chimed. “I’ll take that as a yes”. 

“Shut up, Jason”. 

Polly answered the door, her face immediately lighting up as she saw Jason, but quickly switching to one of confusion. 

“What are you boys doing here?” 

“Hey babe. Are your parents home?” Jason asked.

“No, late night at the Register. Why….what’s going on?” 

“Who is it, Polly?” they all heard Betty call from inside. 

“Our boyfriends”. 

Betty practically sprinted to the door. 

“Juggie! What are you guys doing here? Do you want some food? We stopped at Pop’s because it’s a rare night where Mom isn’t here force feeding us vegetables, but we could make you guys a sandwich or something?” 

“I’m good” Jason started, as Jughead immediately responded with, “Absolutely”. 

Jason rolled his eyes.

“What?” Jughead defended. “I’m always hungry”. 

“I guess we can talk and eat at the same time” Jason sighed. 

“Talk about what?” Betty asked innocently. 

“It’s probably best we all go inside”. 

***  
The four of them made their way to the living room after Jughead scarfed down two turkey and cheese sandwiches. Betty and Polly sat on the couch while Jughead stood by the fireplace and Jason paced around the room. 

“You gonna start?” Jason asked Jughead.

“Hey, I rang the doorbell. You can go first this time”.

“You rang the doorbell to avoid my question, not because you wanted to”.

“I still did it, didn’t I?” 

Jason went to open his mouth to retort but Polly cut him off by practically screaming “Can one of you just please tell us what’s going on?”. 

Jason took a deep breath, and told the Cooper sisters the plan. 

In true Cooper fashion, the girls sat in silence and processed the information they were just given. They looked at each other, nodded, turned to the boys and said in perfect synchronization, “We want to help”. 

“Called that one” Jason said tiredly. 

Jughead made his way over to Betty and sat on the coffee table across from her and took her hands. 

“Listen, Betts. I love you and your giant heart, and I love you for wanting to help. But we told you this so we wouldn’t be keeping things from you. I told you because I respect you, and I love how honest we are with each other. I didn’t tell you so you could get involved more than you already are. Your bruises are barely healed. Please, just let me handle this one, okay?” 

“But Jug, it’s dangerous! I don’t like this plan at all, and if I’m not there, I’ll just be sitting at home conjuring up the worst possible scenarios”. 

“Jason, just hear us out” Polly began. “We may not be able to physically over power the Ghoulies but we’re quick on our feet. Maybe we can actually get them to agree instead of this ending with blood, sweat, and tears”. 

“Babe, there is no negotiating with the Ghoulies. We have to fight”. 

“Can’t you at least, try?” Betty asked. 

“Betts...I’m sorry. It’s a solid plan, and it will work. We’re doing it this way”. 

“Then we want to be there” Polly said. 

“No way in hell, Polly. I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not. They were gonna use you as leverage against me. What happens if they catch you? Or Betty again! If it means keeping you safe, I’m okay with you being angry with me. But you’re not going anywhere near that fight”. 

“I agree with Jason, Betty. I’m not giving you anymore information until it’s over, and don’t even think about sleuthing with your sister. Everyone knows to keep their mouth shut on this”. 

Polly and Betty shared a defeated look. 

“Promise us. Promise us you’ll stay out of it” Jughead asked, searching Betty’s eyes. 

Betty stared back, millions of emotions swimming in her tears. 

“Baby, please don’t cry. I just want you to be safe”. 

A tear fell down Betty’s cheek, and Jughead swiped it away. 

She sighed. “FINE. I promise. But you better call me THE SECOND this plan is over, okay?”. 

Jughead leaned across the table and kissed her softly. “Okay”. 

Polly looked up at Jason, his eyes pleading with her to agree just like her sister had. 

“Okay” Polly finally gave in. “I promise too”. 

Jason visibly exhaled, and relief washed over him. 

“You boys should probably get going before our parents get back” Polly said, getting up to wrap her arms around Jason. He kissed her on her cheek, and nodded in agreement. They walked towards the door to say their goodbyes and give Betty and Jughead some privacy to do the same. 

Betty stood up and hugged Jughead tight. 

“I don’t like this, Jug. But I trust you”. 

Jughead stroked her hair, and kissed her forehead. 

“Thank you, Betts. I promise I’ll be careful”. 

“You better. Who’s gonna finish my food when I can’t, if you’re not around”. 

Jughead laughed. “Really? That’s all I’m good for? Your human garbage disposal?”

“Trust me, Jughead Jones. You are good for so much more than that”. 

Betty stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips to Jughead’s in a deep, slow kiss. 

“Stay safe. I’d like to do that again sometime”. 

“Betts, when this is finally behind us, we can do that and more….any time you want”. 

He leaned down and kissed her again, only breaking apart when he heard “Jones, we gotta go” from Jason. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? I love you” Jughead told Betty, with a final kiss to her lips. 

“I love you too” Betty said, and watched him walk away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, please comment, kudos, or message me on tumblr @pollycooperr and tell me your thoughts! i absolutely love hearing them <3
> 
> thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> please comment, kudos, or message me on tumblr @killmongerforever  
> I love your feedback and it is so so appreciated :) <3


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